No Gold Watch
by Ahawkeuk
Summary: The Watchers council desides to retire Buffy and Faith...permanently.COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

Title: No gold watch - Part 1  
Rating: PG15 I think (If anyone who reads this thinks it needs a higher rating let me know)  
Author: Anthony Hawke

Category: Crossover

Pairings: B/X/F W/O G/J  
Spoilers: Up to Season 4. After _The Freshman _but before _Living Conditions_  
Summary: AU. The Watchers Council decides to retire Buffy and Faith... permanently. 

Disclaimer: Any characters whose names and descriptions are used are the property of their original owners, and no copyright infringement is intended or meant. No money can be made from this story. It can be distributed freely so long as it is kept in its entirety, with all notices and copyright information intact_._

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Vamps Lair

Sunnydale

October 1999

Sunday the vampire stepped in front of Buffy holding her 'Class Protector' award. "Oh, and this. This is my favourite item."

Buffy gave the vampire a warning look, "You don't want to touch that."

Sunday dropped it on the floor and stomped down on the handle, hard, breaking it. She then moved over to Buffy and grabbed her left arm. "You know this arm's not looking so good. It might have to come off."

With a mixture of both anger and sadness at the destruction of the only physical acknowledgment of her life as the Vampire Slayer, Buffy addressed Sunday. "You want to know the truth? I only need one." She hit Sunday with a roundhouse punch with her right fist, sending her spinning. Rolling to her feet she kicked Sunday in the face and then flipped her over the couch onto the coffee table. She then snagged some broken wood from the coffee table with her foot and kicked Sunday in the face with it. With a look of surprise on her face, Sunday fell into a pile of clutter on the floor.

Sunday got up with her face all vamped out. A fat Vamp ran in to help Sunday. Buffy, grabbing a tennis racket from the large amount of junk in the lair, stepped onto the arm of a chair and roundhouse kicked Sunday followed by a backhand swing with the racket into the fat Vamp's face, sending her flying over the couch. The impact breaking the frame off the racket leaving a perfect stake in her hand. Sunday moved in closer to Buffy for some close-in fighting. A vamp, dressed in camouflage clothing, decided it was time to leave and moved towards the door. Before he could reach it the door opened, revealing Xander in the lead with Oz and Willow behind him both brandishing crosses, which forced the vamp back. SpicoliVamp saw Willow struggling with a crossbow and rushed her. Willow got the crossbow up just in time and shot the bolt through SpicoliVamp's heart. With a surprised "Woah!" SpicoliVamp turned into dust.

Oz, handing his cross to Xander, moved up to protect Willows back, while Buffy proceeded to mop the floor with the vamp Sunday. Unnoticed by the others, Xander had the cross knocked from his hand by a sweeping arm block of CamoVamps. Gliding forward with a smooth step, CamoVamp then proceeded to throw a strike at Xander's throat. As the hand strike streaked towards his throat, Xander's body posture underwent a transformation. From his usual gawky method of arm waving, sudden lunges and wild body checks, Xander's body settled into a confident looking ready stance. Blocking the strike towards his throat with an efficient movement of his left arm, he struck out with his right at CamoVamps left shoulder joint. Jumping back, CamoVamp gave Xander a look of surprise before taking up his own ready stance. Slowly circling each other, they ignored the sounds of battle coming from the rest of the lair.

Sunday was lying on the floor with Buffy standing above her. "When you look back at this, in the three seconds it'll take you to turn to dust, " Buffy said "I think you'll find the mistake was touching my stuff. "

Sunday got to her feet and rushed Buffy, who swung one-armed at her which Sunday blocked, eventually catching the arm in a hold. "What about breaking your arm," She grabbed at Buffy's left arm. " how'd that feel."

"Let me answer that with a head butt." answered Buffy as she jerked her head forward, sending Sunday staggering.

"And for the record," Buffy made a fist with her left hand. "the arm is hurt," She uppercut Sunday, sending her flying. "not broken."

Oz and Willow walked up behind Buffy, "Hey, Buffy. Need a hand?" Oz said.

Buffy, brandishing a stake with a twirl. "No thanks," She twisted around throwing the stake into Sunday's heart. "I'm good."

Sunday shook her head and put her hands on her hips as she turned to dust. Buffy went over to retrieve her 'Class Protector' award.

Staggering back from a powerful palm strike to the chest, CamoVamp bumped into Oz.

Giving a small growl Oz grabbed the vamp by the throat and threw him against a wall of the lair. Bouncing off the wall the stunned CamoVamp striped over Buffy's weapon chest and landed on the leg of an upside down chair before disappearing in a puff of dust. Looking at the dog tags that got entangled in his hand while he was holding CamoVamp's throat, Oz shrugs, and dropped them to the floor.

The gang left the house carrying Buffy's stuff in boxes. Xander carrying her trunk, paused to pick up the dog tags and slip them into his pocket.

  
"So, all that other stuff in there? That's just gonna sit in there, right? Uh, I mean, no one owns it in the strictest sense." Xander asked.

"It seems wrong, somehow." Oz said.

  
"Dibs on the rowing machine." Xander said with a small smile.

"Buffy!" Giles ran up carrying a crossbow in one hand and a cross and battle-axe in the other. 

"Hi, Giles." Willow said.   
Xander looked at Giles with a smirk "What's with the arsenal?"

Giles, looking worried and guilty, said to Buffy "I've been awake all night. I know I'm supposed to teach you self-reliance, but I can't leave you out there to fight alone. To hell with what's right, I'm ready to back you up. Let's find the evil a-and fight it together." 

"Great! Thanks! We'll get right on that." Buffy said with a wide grin.  
Stepping around Giles they continued on their way. 

Giles, following the gang said. "The evil is this way?"

Buffy looking ahead said over her shoulder "My room is."

"Hey Giles, could you get this box on top?" Willow nodded at box on top of the armful she was carrying.

"So, college not so scary after all, hunh?" Xander asked Buffy.

  
Buffy answered him with a smile. "It's turning out to be a lot like high school, which I can handle. At least I know what to expect."

Xander dropped back besides Willow. "Hey Will, can I see you do something for me?" he whispered. "I need some help from Net Girl."

Fishing out the dog tags from his pocket, he placed them on top of the boxes she was carrying. "I need you to find out about this guy." he continued.

Willow grinned, "Sure, it shouldn't be hard. I'll see you during lunch tomorrow."

**********

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College Canteen

Sunnydale College

"Xander! Over here." Willow waved from a paper-strewn table in the corner.

Walking across the canteen Xander looked at the table Willow was seated at. Practically the whole surface was covered with piles of books separated by a number of loose papers. Directly in front of Willow was clear space that held the remains of a salad with an empty carton of milk set beside it.

"Hey Will," Xander said with a grin while waving a hand at the table, "great idea you've got there. Combination library and canteen."

Looking closely at Xander after his unusually weak joke, Willow noticed a slight look of worry on his face. "What's wrong Xander?"

Leaning back on his chair in casually seaming pose, "Nothing Will, everything's fine." Xander replied.

Looking at Xander's unconvincing pose, Willow decided that slightly stronger measures were needed if she wanted an truthful answer. With her patented 'resolve look' on her face, Willow pinned Xander to his chair. "Xander!"

With a resigned sigh, Xander lent forward. "It's that Vamp last night Will, the one dressed in camouflage."

"It was probably one the soldiers from the base. It's not all that unusual Xander. Sometimes, before they can be warned about the 'drug gangs', a newly posted soldier comes into town for a night out and gets turned." Willow said with a sad look.

Xander shook his head, "No Willow, he wasn't Army, he was Air Force. He wasn't just regular Air force either, he was Special Forces Air Force."

Scrabbling around in the paper covered table, Willow finally found the dog tags that Xander had given her the night before. Tilting the dog tags slightly as she looked them over, Willow read them for the first time.

"Oh, I see now, USAF. But Xander, it doesn't say anything about special forces." Dropping the dog tags on the table Willow looked at Xander with a confused expression. "How do you know he was Special Forces?"

Waving his arms around in a vague sort of way, Xander tried to explain. "It was how he fought last night. He used the unarmed combat style taught to special forces." Xander gave a slight shake of his head. "There's none of that flowing movement or eastern philosophy you see in the martial arts Will. It's a combination of all the deadlier moves from them, coupled with an nasty attitude. They use it mostly when they have to be quiet while taking someone out." 

Willow interrupted Xander, "How do you know all this? I mean, you don't even like war films,. So how do you know all this about soldiers and Special Forces?"

"Remember that Halloween when we turned into our costumes? Xander reminded Willow. "You became a ghost, Buffy became a useless noblewoman and I became soldier boy?"

Willow nodded for Xander to continue as she remembered the night Giles's old enemy Ethan cast that Janus spell over everyone.

"I still remember some of it Will, I wasn't just any soldier, I was a Green Beret soldier and the Green Beret's are Special Forces as well." Xander looked worried as he explained further. "Look Will, most Vamps rely on their strength when they fight. You might get the odd Vamp who knows some martial arts or has a bit of skill with a sword. Mostly though they just rely on their strength." Pausing while Willow nodded in agreement, Xander continued. "What do you think of Buffy's chances against a group of Vamps who were Special Forces before they got turned? They could really hurt her....." Xander paused before whispering, "they might even kill her. We've got to find out if he was the only one Will."

With an alarmed look on her face, Willow began to pack her books and papers away. "I haven't got any classes this afternoon. I was going to spend the rest of the day here doing some studying." Blushing, she added, "Oz was going to meet me here later."

Carrying Willows bags, they left the canteen and headed towards Willows room, and her computer.

**********

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Willows Room

Sunnydale

Dumping the book and paper filled bags on her bed both, Willow and Xander, headed towards the table where the computer sat.

Turning on her computer as she spoke, Willow asked. "Xander? You got those dog tags?"

Holding up the dog tags, Xander sat on the edge of her bed. "Yeh, got them right here."

Nodding her head, Willow pulled a small notebook from a pile of books stacked next to the monitor. Quickly flipping through the pages, she stopped when she reached a page with the title Pentagon written across the top. As soon as the computer had finished booting up, Willow connected to her ISP and began to type quickly. Quite soon the opening pages of the Pentagon's database appeared. Quickly flipping through her notebook again, Willow typed in a password and waited. The words 'ACCESS GRANTED' appeared before making way for a screen with input boxes.

Holding out a hand for the dog tags, Willow mumbled something about arrogant system administrators using the word God for a password.

Handing over the dog tags, Xander gave Willow a grin and said. "You've hacked them before haven't you?"

Blushing a bright red, Willow answered. "Ummm, I found the awhile back when I was just surfing." Quickly changing the subject by leaning forward, Willow began to input the details of the dog tags owner. "Name....Anthony Hawke....Serial number....5..7.." Leaning back after typing in the details, they both waited for the results.

After a moment a new page appeared on the monitor. Xander, leaning forward began to mumble this time as he read the service record. "Member of a ST team...720th Special Tactics Group.....Instructor at Air Force Special Operations School." Raising his eyebrows at that last, Xander glanced up to the top of the screen to the Current Status line. The word DECEASED followed by a number was the sole entry. Pointing to the number, Xander asked Willow. "What's the number there for Will?"

Opening another window, Willow answered Xander as she began to type. "It's the reference number for a report about his death." In the new screen the logo of the Judge Advocate Generals office appeared.

After entering the reference number, and inputing yet another password from her notebook, Willow began to read the file displayed. "Let me see...Oh wow." she exclaimed.

Giving up trying to read as fast as Willow, Xander asked. "What's the wow for Will?"

"Looks like you were right about how dangerous he was." Pointing to the relevant portion of the file she continued. "When they found his body it was surrounded by six piles of dust." Leaning forward she added. "Even though his blood chemistry showed a high level of alcohol, it looks like he dusted six vamps before they got him."

With a small smile, Xander praised the man. "Way to go man, six of them while blasted." With a sudden look of concern he turned to Willow. "Was he alone, were there any other deaths at the same time?"

After reading to the end of the file, Willow turned to Xander with a relieved smile. "No Xander, he was the only one. It happened in a small town in Colorado while he was on his way to his next posting. It looks like he decided to take a break and have a drink at a local saloon while enroute. The only recent death was two months earlier, when an old lady died in her sleep."

Letting out a sign, Xander said. "Well it looks like Buffy's ok. She won't have to tangle with a Special Forces team of vamps. We really lucked out yesterday. If that vamp hadn't tripped over Buffy's war chest and staked himself, we would have had a hell of a fight." Nodding towards the screen, he asked. "What's JAG's interest in him." 

Re-reading the file, Willow answered Xander. "Here it is. Oh, they assigned a team to investigate his death because of his next posting. A former Navy pilot and a female Marine" Reading further down the page she continued. "He was enroute to someplace called SG Command." Raising an eyebrow in surprise, she added. "The security clearance for that place is astronomical. Even the JAG investigators couldn't get clearance for it." 

Xander shrugged. "Probably a research facility. Plenty of those around." Standing up he headed for the door. "I'm going to get something to eat, want to join me?"

With a bright smile, Willow answered. "No, that's ok Xander, I'm going to wait for Oz."

Turning back to her computer after Xander had left, Willow prepared to shut it down. Pausing a moment to look at the file displayed on the monitor, Willow began to grin. "SG command....hmmm...I wonder." Leaning forward, she began to type. "Lets see what you have to hide from Net Girl."


	2. Chapter 2

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Watcher's Council 

England

Wesley Wyndham-Pryce paced nervously in front of the large doors to the Watcher's Council chamber room.

Looking down his nose arrogantly, Quentin Travers spoke. "Relax Wesley, you were correct to bring that prophecy to our attention." Waving his hand in a dismissive manner he said. "You have nothing to worry about. I'm sure the council will forgive any past indiscretions."

Glancing nervously at the two large ex-SAS men guarding the doors, Wesley lowered his voice and said, "It's the wording of the prophecy, Quentin. It says if the Slayer or Slayers depart this earth. Not, if the Slayer or Slayers die."

Signing with exasperation Quentin said, "We've gone over this before Wesley. Lady Amelia Arden wrote the prophecy during Queen Victoria's reign. That annoying woman never wrote plainly. In all those prophecy's of hers, she always used poetic prose. 'Depart this veil of tears', 'Depart this earth'. It's the same thing."

Before Wesley could continue, the movement of the guards interrupted him. Responding to a quiet signalling buzz, the two guards opened the large doors to the chamber and stepped to the side.

Giving Wesley a last look of exasperation, Quentin lead the way into the Council Chamber. Directly in front of the large doors they had just entered was an area of open space. Across from which was a raised crescent shaped bench. Seated behind the bench were seven men. Three people were seated to both left and right, while in the centre, raised slightly above the rest, was seated the head of the Watcher's council.

Sir William Appleby, the head of the Council, tapped his gavel onto the table before him. "This meeting will come to order." He proclaimed. Fixing his gaze upon Quentin Travers and Wesley Wyndham-Pryce he nodded towards them. "Gentlemen, you may begin your report."

With his usually arrogant tone subdued by the presence of the council, Travers stepped forward to speak. "We have consulted with three separate seers and all are in agreement." Pausing for effect he continued. "The prophecy is correct. If, during the next three weeks, either one or both of the slayers die, then the girls chosen to succeed them will be respectively, Amanda Smyth or Amanda Smyth and Suzanne Bolton." When he finished, he stepped back and awaited the Council's reaction

The mood inside the Watcher's Council chamber room became one of barely concealed excitement. The gathered Watchers started began to speak excitedly to each other.

Sir William Appleby, slammed his gavel onto the table before him. "Order!" He cried out. He fixed a hard gaze upon Quentin and Wesley. "Gentlemen, are you saying that the next Slayers will be those particular girls, the ones the council have raised since infancy when we discovered their potential as future Slayers?"

Nodding his head, Quentin answered. "Yes, Sir William. But only if they die in the next three weeks. After that, the choice cannot be predicted."

Once again the chamber was assaulted by the raised voices of the watcher's. "Gentlemen, please. We have some preparation to address." Glancing down at Wesley, Sir William Appleby, with a thoughtful look on his face spoke. "I propose, that in reward for bringing this prophecy to our attention, that young Wesley here be appointed as Amanda Smyth's Watcher." Pausing to give each member of the council a significant look, he continued. "All those in favour?" Receiving confirming nods from all, he addressed Wesley. "I suggest you make your way to the school immediately. There is no telling how events should transpire. There is every possibility that the Slayer may be engaged in her last fight at this very moment." Bending a stern gaze on Wesley, he added. "I'm sure you would consider it an advantage to be there at the moment of awakening?"

Shaking himself from his dazed reaction, Wesley addressed Sir William. "Yes Sir William, I will leave immediately." Pulling his shoulders back he turned to the council and added. "I thank you for your trust and will carry out my duties as Watcher to the best of my abilities."

Waving a hand towards the door, Sir William said. "Yes, yes, now off you go." With a benign smile he watched Wesley leave the Council chambers. As the doors closed behind Wesley, the smile was wiped from his face. Turning to Quentin he ask in a stern voice. "He has no idea? He is unaware of the significant differences between his copy and the original document?"

Turning back from the door, Quentin faced the council and shook his head. "No Sir William, on each occasion we consulted the seers, it was the altered copy that he showed them. It was only after I sent him to prepare for our departure each time, that I showed the original document to the seers. There was no difference in their answer."

A cough from Sam Zabuto drew Sir Williams attention. "Differences? I was unaware that there were any differences."

Sir William pondered for a moment. "The Council at the time of Lady Arden prophecy decided that, significant passages, should be removed from all copies and that the original should be kept under lock and key."

"I would like to hear about these, significant passages." Zabuto declared.

Glancing around the council and noting their agreement with Sam Zabuto, Sir William proceeded to enlighten them. "There are three passages involved. The first difference is at the beginning. It is stated quite categorically that both slayers, will, depart this earth."

After the councils excited murmurs over this revelation, Sir William continued. "The second, near the end, states that it the actions of the council that will bring this about." A shocked silence spread around the chamber at this revelation.

"Gentlemen, I know this has come as a shock to you." He gave each member of the council a stern look. "However we may feel about this, there is no choice. This prophecy is not a branching prophecy. There are no choices given if one event happens instead of another. The events in this prophecy will take place." Once again giving the council a stern look, Sir William continued. "Given the current state of affairs, one slayer in a coma while the other is out of our control, we have no choice in the matter."

Smiling slightly, Sir William said. "Consider the advantages gentlemen. The next two Slayers will be girls trained since infancy by the council." Assuming a sad, but proud expression, Sir William addressed the council. "It is our sacred duty to enact the events of this prophecy. Once again we will shall guide the actions of the Slayer. In this case, two Slayers."

Noting the agreement of the council, Sir William dropped the false expression of sadness on his face and turned to Quentin. "I suggest that we send Quentin, with a small section of our guards, to Sunnydale. There he shall arrange for the departure from Earth of the two Slayers."

Sir William Appleby, after receiving the unanimous agreement of the Council, tapped his gavel onto the table before him. "So carried." He proclaimed. Fixing his gaze upon Quentin Travers, he nodded at him. "Quentin Travers, you may assemble your team and depart tomorrow." 

About to dismiss Quentin, he was interrupted by Sam Zabuto. "Sir William, you mentioned three passages. You have informed us of only two."

With an expression of slight embarrassment, Sir William answered his unasked question. "The third passage was a message to us, the current council, from Lady Arden. In the final passage of the prophecy, which is fairly lengthy, she proceeds to call into question our paternity." With a sign of exasperation he continued. "She starts by calling us a 'Bunch of Bloody Handed Bastards' and continues on in that vein for nearly half a page."


	3. Chapter 3

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College Campus

Sunnydale

In most humans the sense of smell is unremarkable. The scents that overlay every surface, that drift on every breeze, barely register in that part of the human brain allocated by nature for that purpose. But to Oz, casually strolling across the college campus, no scent went unnoticed. The relaxed expression on his face belied the feverous activity behind his eyes.

Altered by the wolf within, that section of his mind was constantly separating and categorizing every scent encountered.

That, almost wolf like smell, was a dog that had passed here early this morning. The smell that drifted in on the breeze from the building to the south, indicated that the canteen would be serving meatloaf again. The scent on a flattened patch of grass, showed that a couple had been making out there yesterday evening. 

Suddenly, drifting from the direction of a large tree to his left, a familiar scent caught his attention. Instantly the smell was identified as 'Willow's Scent ' by his human side, and as 'Mate's Scent' by the wolf within. Changing direction in mid stride, Oz headed for the large tree.

Willow, leaning back against the wide bole of the tree, was rounded by scattered books and large piles of computer printouts. Glancing at the titles of the books, Oz smiled. None of Willow's course's involved astronomy or ancient Egyptian history, yet the titles of the book indicated that this was what Willow was currently studying. Look's like Willow's studying for 'Fun' again, Oz though in amusement.

After observing Willow for a few moments, Oz eventually spoke. "Hi."

Willows studious expression instantly changed to one of happiness as she jumped to her feet. "Oz!" After a fierce hug, Willow pulled Oz into a seated potion against the tree and snuggled under his arm. Resting her head on his chest, Willow snuggled even closer and said. "Purrrr."

Laughing quietly, Oz hugged Willow with his arm and relaxed against the tree.

After enjoying the comfort of Oz's presence for awhile, Willow finally looked up at Oz and asked. "I thought you had band practice this afternoon?" 

With a sigh, Oz answered. "Bands breaking up."

A shocked look on her face, Willow sat up. "Breaking up?" She exclaimed. "But why?"

"Phil's stepdad's in hospital up in Seattle. He was in a bad car crash and it'll take him months to recover. Phil's mum can't handle 4 kids on her own." Oz said in a resigned tone.

Willow after a moments hesitation said. "I know it's bad luck for Phil, and I hope everything goes alright, but can't you get someone else?"

Oz shook his head. "That's not all. Steve heard from his brother Paul last night. The band he's in lost two guys and he asked Steve to help out. He also asked if he knew a drummer." Oz looked down at Willow, who had returned to her position under his arm. "What with Phil leaving, Steve decided to head for New York and help Paul." Shrugging his shoulders Oz continued. "I had a talk with Mark. With only two of us left, and Paul needing a drummer, we talked it over and he's going with Steve to New York."

With a questioning expression, Willow looked up and said. "No more band?"

Gently smiling down at Willow, Oz said. "Lots of bands split up. I'm gonna chill for awhile before starting a new band in a couple of months."

Looking at the books around the, Oz changed the subject. "What's with the astronomy books? I thought you'd covered it all in High school already."

Looking at his face for a few seconds, making sure he was taking the band's break up ok, Willow answered. "Just checking to see if there's been any new discovery lately." Leaning back into Oz's embrace she carried on. "Do you ever think about the stars? I mean about the planets around the stars?"

"What about them?" Oz asked.

"Do you ever think what it'd be like to explore them? To be able to go to practically any planet in the galaxy, to be able to explore a whole new planet?" Willow asked.

Oz thought for a moment. Finding the idea interesting, he finally said. "Cool." Adding after a few seconds. "Maybe our kids will."

Willow, her blushes subsiding after a while at the mention of 'our kids', said. "We can do it now."

Oz looked at Willow in confusion. "What do you mean 'now'?

Willow picked up one of the piles of computer printouts and clutched it to her chest tightly. "I found a backdoor into the computers of a government project." Pulling the printouts away from her chest, she handed them to Oz. "It's about something called a Stargate..."

**********

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Cockroach infested Motel

Sunnydale

Travers looked around the motel room with disgust. In the normal course of events they would have set up base in the best hotel suite money could buy. However, considering the covert nature for their presence in Sunnydale, this was the safest place they could find to operate from.

Turning to the four large men piling their luggage on one of the beds, he spoke in his usual arrogant manner. "Which of you is the sniper?"

With a broad Scottish accent, one of the men stepped away from the luggage and said. "Tha'd be me Mr Travers."

Pulling a small notebook from an inside pocket, Travers quickly flipped through the pages. Stopping at one particular page he ripped it from the notebook and handed to the man. "This is the name and address of a contact in Los Angeles. I want you to choose a suitable rifle and be back here by tomorrow morning." Stopping the man before he could leave the room, he added. "Oh, McPherson? The shot will most probably will take place at night, so get a night sight as well."

As the door closed behind McPherson, Travers turned and walked to the telephone. After once again consulting the small notebook, he began to dial a number. "Hello? Could I speak to Nurse Waterstone please?....Waterstone? Travers here, I'd like to see you soon as possible....You can? That's excellent....Do you know the motel that's at the north end of town?....I'm in room seventeen....I'll see you in twenty minuets." Turning to the three men standing by the luggage, he waved his hand at them. "Put the luggage away somewhere and hand me that briefcase."

Twenty minuets later there was a knock at the door. Travers, after first looking through the peephole, opened the door. A blonde woman, dressed in a nurse's uniform entered the room. Travers shook her hand before waving her at a chair. "I'd like to hear your report on the condition of the Slayer Faith."

After a quick glance at the three men playing cards on one of the beds, Waterstone began to speak in a brisk manner. "The attending physicians consider her condition as stable."

"They have no suspicions?" Travers asked.

Waterstone shook her head. "No sir, none at all. While they are stumped for a reason for her continuing coma, their suspicions have not been aroused. The reason for a coma can sometimes go undiagnosed and for this reason her case is not unique."

"Any problems with the injections?" Travers asked, as he glanced briefly down at the briefcase in his lap.

Waterstone once again shook her head. "No sir." She smiled primly as she continued. "The Hospital considers itself fortunate to acquire someone with my credentials, who is also willing to work the nightshift." She added with a quirk to her mouth. "I'm also considered by the rest of the staff to be a 'softy'."

With a raised eyebrow, Travers asked. "Softy?"

"It is my habit to visit all the long-term patients when I first come on duty." With a sniff at the gullibility of the rest of the staff, she explained. "I've told them that I say a private prayer for each of the patients. This gives me ample opportunity to inject her I.V with the compound. My visits with the other patients merely avoids associating me with one particular patient."

Travers carefully unzipped the briefcase. "An excellent subterfuge."

Reaching into the briefcase, Travers withdrew a small blase case and handed it to Waterstone. "We have an improved compound for you to administer."

Waterstone opened the case and looked inside. Nestled on top of a foam lining was a single ampoule. The liquid in the ampoule glowed a dark red and presented a somewhat menacing appearance.

"Just the one ampoule." Waterstone asked in confusion.

Travers, who had considered her reaction before the meeting, quietly explained. "This new compound is much more effective. You need only give her one injection each month to achieve the same results of the daily injections. It also has the benefit of reducing the number of times you risk being discovered."

Smiling as she placed the case in her purse Waterstone asked. "Will there be anything else Sir?"

Escorting her to the door, Travers shook his head. "No, an excellent report." Opening the door he added. "A monthly supply of the new drug will begin arriving in two weeks time."

One of the men on the bed turned to Travers as he made his way back to his chair. "Are you sure you can trust her to carry out her duties Sir?

Stopping in surprise, Travers looked at the man. "Whatever do you mean." 

The man looked at the door with contempt. "She must as thick as two short planks. We've all taken the lectures regarding magical compounds. That course is compulsory for all Watchers. She must be an idiot to forget that a red glow in a magical compound means it's a deadly poison." Turning back to Travers he continued. "Are you sure you can trust an idiot like her?"

Travers began to laugh. "You do Nurse Waterstone an injustice. She suffers from a most unfortunate condition for someone in her profession." He began to laugh even harder. "Nurse Waterstone is colour blind."


	4. Chapter 4

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Sunnydale Hospital

Sunnydale

Buffy walked up the Nurse's station. "Hello Mrs Williams."

Mrs Williams looked up from her 'Soap Digest' magazine. "Hello Buffy." Putting down her magazine, she glanced at the calendar on the wall. "Your a day earlier than usual child." she smilingly said to Buffy.

Buffy smiled back at Nurse Williams. Nurse Williams, or Ms Williams as she preferred to be called, was her favourite nurse here at the long-term patients ward. Most of the other nurses came out of the same mould. Coldly efficient and always giving the impression that they were to busy to deal with visitors. A large black woman in her early fifty's, Mrs Williams always had a smile for Buffy. The first time Buffy came to the long-term ward she expected to have her normal reaction to hospitals. Instead she was pleasantly surprised by a warm comforting feeling. At first she thought in was because there were fewer people moving about. But when she visited once at a different time, caused by hellmouthy problems, she found herself having her usual hospital Wiggins. Further visits at different times had show that it was the presence of Mrs Williams that made the difference. Since then Buffy arranged to visit only when Mrs Williams was on duty.

Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "I can't come tomorrow, my mother's invited some family over for dinner." Buffy hated to lie to Mrs Williams, but there was no way she could tell her the real reason. Giles had told her that tomorrow night was one of those conjunctions of the stars thingies. While not one of those, 'end of the world' deals, it still meant she would be busier than usual.

Mrs Williams nodded her head. "I understand child. You'll have to wait a bit before you can visit her." She leant forward. "She's having her sheets changed at the moment and Nurse Waterstone will be coming on duty before that's done."

Buffy nodded her understanding. She was aware of Nurse Waterstone's little prayers visits. Though she didn't particularly like Nurse Waterstone, a few prayers couldn't hurt.

Mrs Williams waved to one of the corridors. "You can wait in the family lounge, I'll let you know when she's finished." With a twinkle in her eye she added. "You can keep her gentleman visitor company."

Buffy, making her way to the indicated corridor, stopped and looked at Mrs Williams. "Gentleman visitor?"

Still smiling, Mrs Williams said. "Yes, he's in family lounge now, waiting to make his regular visit." Noticing Buffy's shocked expression, she said to Buffy. "You didn't know?" Thinking for a moment, she shook her head to herself. "Ah, I should have realized you'd never met. He's a day late for his regular visit himself." Looking at Buffy she explained. "He usually visits the poor child every Sunday, while you visit her every Tuesday." Spreading her hands wide, she continued. "This is the first time you've been a day early, and with him being a day late..." Seeing the worried expression on Buffy's face, she hastened to reassure Buffy. "He's a good boy Buffy, I've heard him myself. He sits there and tells her about all his friends and about the past week's goings on." She firmly shooed her on. "Go introduce yourself, he's a good boy, I promise."

Slowly walking towards the lounge, Buffy thought hard. Who could it be? From what she understood about Faith's time with the Mayor, Faith had no friends there. They were just minions of the Mayor and would have been beneath her notice. Stopping at the entrance to the lounge she slowly opened the door. Looking around the room, she at first didn't see him. Then a small movement by the window caught her attention. "Xander?" Buffy exclaimed.

Turning from the window, Xander looked at Buffy in surprise. "Buffy! wha...what are you doing here?"

Buffy slumped down on the settee. "Looks like the same thing you are."

Xander gingerly sat on the settee and looked at the floor. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Buffy started to speak. "I think we both need to explain ourselves here." Taking a deep breath, Buffy looked at Xander and added. "I think I'll go first."

Receiving Xander's nod of agreement, Buffy slowly began to speak. "Guilt. I suppose that's the main thing that brings me here. I feel really guilty about how things turned out." She held up her hand as Xander took a breath to speak. "Let me finish first, I've thought about this a lot. There's a connection between us. Ever since she first arrived I could feel things about her. I could sense where she was all the time and I could feel what she was feeling." Noticing Xander's look, she quickly added. "It wasn't telepathy, it was just a vague sense of what she was feeling." Looking down at the floor for a moment, Buffy quietly added. "That's where the problem started. I was confused, even though I was getting a sense of what she was feeling. It didn't match up with her words or actions." Buffy waved her hands in remembered frustration. "I couldn't understand the difference between what I thought she was feeling and what she said and did. In the end I ignored those feelings and accepted her words as the truth instead." Looking a Xander with an expression of sadness, Buffy said. "Oh Xander, I was so wrong. That night, when the Mayer's assistant died, the feelings of pain and devastation. They were the truth. Not her words of casual dismissal." Buffy began to cry softly. "I failed her Xander. I listened to her words and not her heart."

Xander pulled Buffy into his arms. Rocking her gently as he stroked her hair, Xander tried to comfort her.

Pulling back after a while, Buffy held onto his hand while wiping her eyes and said. "I can still feel her in the back of my mind. Ever since I accepted the truth, that the feelings I received were real, I've been using it. I've been trying to send her a feeling of comfort and acceptance." Looking at Xander in hope, she said. "I think she knows somehow. I get a sort of echo to the feelings I send her. Its as if she's sending them back to me." Pulling herself upright she looked at Xander. "I've told you why I'm here. Now it's your turn."

Still holding Buffy's hand, Xander slowly began to speak. "I felt a conection to her as well." Glancing at Buffy, he quickly added. "Not like yours. Not a conection that linked us. More like a feeling of recognition." Taking a deep breath he asked. "Has Willow ever explained about my family?"

Looking at Xander with concern, Buffy nodded. "Yes, she's told me how they ignore you. As if your not there."

Looking out the window, Xander nodded. "I thought she had. But there's more. Something even she doesn't know. Usually they get drunk and and ignore me, sometimes they shout at me, telling me how useless I am. But sometimes it gets worse, sometimes there's violence." He paused as Buffy squeezed his hands. Taking another breath, he continued. "I always hid from everyone when that happened. I waited until the bruises would heal or could be hidden." Looking at Buffy, he spoke with very serious expression. "That's what I recognized in Faith. That she'd gone through the same thing." Xander paused for a moment as he collected his emotions. "I thought I could help her. I thought, that because I had gone through something similar, that I could help her pull it together." Xander sadly shook his head. "What I went through was nothing compared to Faith. I had it easy compared to her. My injuries were minor and infrequent, While hers injuries were more violent and practically constant. And there's worse. She was a girl, and her father....." Xander broke off, unable to speak the rest.

Buffy, with dawning horror, whispered. "Rape...he raped his own daughter?"

Xander nodded. After several moments of silence, Xander began to speak again. "I tried Buffy, I really tried to help her. But she couldn't accept help from anyone. To trust someone enough for them to help was imposable for her. Oh, she recognized that I knew what had happened to her, she even knew what I'd gone through. But she just couldn't accept any help." Xander looked at Buffy. "We became sort of friends. Not what you or I would call friends, but the closest she could come to it." Xander paused as he considered his next words. "Buffy...after hearing you describe your connection. I think that she also felt the same connection with you. I could see the expression in her eyes as she looked at you. She desperately wanted your friendship....maybe even more than friendship. But after all she'd been through, she didn't know what to do. She'd lost her way before she ever met you." Seeing the expression of guilt of Buffy's face, Xander shook her hands. "No Buffy! You have nothing to feel guilty about." Tilting his head to the side, he asked. "Would you have accepted her friendship if she'd offered?"

Buffy sat there as she began to realize how deep her feelings were for the dark haired Slayer. Speaking in a quiet whisper, Buffy said. "Yes. Yes, I would have....I...I think I would have accepted even more."

Xander pulled Buffy into a fierce hug. Relaxing in the comforting hug, Buffy pondered on depths of her feeling for Faith. She went over Xander's words, the words that had brought her to this realization. A sudden feeling caused her to stiffen. Pushing herself from Xander's embrace, she grabbed his shoulders. "Xander, there's something else. Something about you and Faith."

Xander tried to avoid her eyes as she stared at him. Finally he gave up and slumped. "I love her. I love her and......" Xander trailed off into silence.

Buffy pulled Xander back into her embrace and tried to return the comfort he had given her. There was something more he wasn't telling her, but it couldn't be anything important. Nothing could be as important as his love for Faith.

Xander closed his eyes. He was relived. Relived that he hadn't told Buffy the rest. That he was also in love with her. Confessing his love for Faith had been hard enough. But to confessing that he loved her as well, that he'd been in love with her long before Faith arrived, would have been near impossible.

After several moments comforting each other, Buffy finally stood up. Pulling Xander to his feet, Buffy looked at the clock and said. "We've been her awhile, Waterstone must have finished her little prayers by now."

Walking down the corridor, Xander broke their silence and said. "What's with that Nurse Waterstone? I mean she comes off real cold, yet she does those little prayer things."

"I know, I feel the same way. I figure she's one of those religious types who does those prayers out of duty." Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "The prayers couldn't hurt, they might even help. You never know."

As they got closer and closer to Faith's room, Buffy began to feel uneasy. Just as they reached the door to Faith's room, Buffy grabbed her head and let out a scream of anguish. "Faith!" Looking at Buffy in shock, Xander watched as Buffy slammed through the door.

Nurse Waterstone turned in surprise. She'd just started to inject the new compound into the I.V., when a loud scream outside was followed the sight of the door slamming into the wall.

Recognizing the blonde Slayer, her face paled in fright.

As Buffy burst into the room, her eyes fastened on the sight of Nurse Waterstone, slowly injecting a glowing red liquid into Faith's I.V. Letting out a feral scream of outrage, Buffy lepta at the nurse and yanked her away from the bed. Grabbing her by the throat, Buffy lifted her into the air and threw across the room towards the wall. Turning back to the bed, Buffy ignored the sound of the nurse's body impacting the wall, and stumbled foreward. Pawing at Faith's body, Buffy began to sob. "Faith..please, please...Faith dont leave me..Faaaaaith!"

Shaking off his shock at Buffy's scream, Xander moved towards the door. The sound of Buffy screaming in outrage, spurned him on. Pushing past the door that had been practically ripped from its hinges, Xander arrived just in time to witness sight of Nurse Waterstone's body slamming into the wall. Watching Nurse Waterstone slowly slide down the wall into an untidy heep on the floor, Xander turned to the bed. The sight of a sobbing Buffy, pawing at Faith, finally spurned him forward. Noticing the glowing red liquid in the I.V, Xander vainly tried to figure out what he should do. Hearing the sound of rushing feet in the corridor, he turned to the doorway, just as Mrs Williams hurried through.

"What's going on here." Mrs Williams asked.

Stepping to away from the I.V, Xander pointed to the slumped body of Nurse Waterstone and then at the I.V. "She was injecting something into the drip."

Seeing the glowing red liquid in the I.V, Mrs Williams let out an exclamation. "Great Maker!" Rushing forward, she hurriedly removed the drip from Faith's arm, before tying it off. "Boy!" Mrs Willams ordered, "Hold Buffy back while I examine Faith."

Xander tried to pull Buffy away from Faith's body without much success. Mrs Williams, noticing Xander's lack of progress, forced her face in front of Buffy's. "Girl, you have to let me help Faith. Let me help her child."

Recognizing the comfortable feeling that the presence of Mrs Williams exuded, Buffy allowed Xander to pull back.

Looking on from the circle of Xander's arms. Buffy watched, as Mrs Williams began to examine Faith. After several long moments, Mrs Williams finally looked up. "Child, I..." Suddenly she paused and looked at the door. Twisting around, both Buffy and Xander looked at the empty doorway. Turning back they watched in amazement as Mrs Williams began to speak to the empty doorway. "You're sure? I'm permitted to do this?" Smiling gently she spoke as if answered. "I'm glad. This child deserves her chance." Turning back to the bed, she placed her hands over Faith and began to pray.

As Buffy and Xander looked on in amazement, a soft golden glow began to surround both Mrs Williams and Faith. The glow began to grow more intense as the smell of spring flowers permeated the room. The brightness reached a blinding brilliance that hurt the eyes, before abruptly disappearing.

Buffy walked forward in daze and sat on the bed. She timidly reached out to hold Faith's hand. Feeling the warmth of Faith's hand, she relaxed and turned to Mrs Williams. "Please..." With that one word, asking for some sort of explanation.

Xander sat on the bed and encircled Buffy body with his arm, as he joined Buffy's hand holding Faith's. "This wasn't her time." Mrs Williams explained to Buffy. "No plot by men can alter God's will."

Xander took a breath and fearfully asked. "What...what are you?"

"I'm an Angel, child." She smiled at them both. "We don't often interfere, but this was a special case." Pointing to the body of Nurse Waterstone, she continued. "The Watchers have discovered that if you both die soon, the new Slayers will be a pair of girls they have raised themselves."

Buffy dew in a sharp breath. "They'll try again. They failed this time but they'll try to kill Faith again."

Mrs Williams smiled as Buffy ignored the implicate threat to herself and expressed her concern for Faith. "No child, as we speak a new Slayer has awakened in one of those girls."

Buffy looked at her in realization. "But that means Faith died."

Nodding her head, Mrs Williams said. "For a moment. But only for a moment." Waving at Xander to stand up, she continued. "She must still disappear though. There's a gurney down the corridor, go fetch it Alexander."

Xander opened his mouth to object but stopped suddenly. No way. He was definitely not going to object if an Angel called Alexander. With a quick squeeze to Buffy's shoulder, he left the room.

Mrs Williams turned to Buffy. "We must talk child. Even though the Watcher's Council will think Faith dead, they will still try to kill you. You must hide also child."

Buffy sat up with a jerk. "I can't hide! How many people will die if I'm not there to protect them!"

Mrs Williams beamed at Buffy. "Such a wonderful heart. No need to worry child. Because of the interference of the Watchers, a few others and I will watch over the town during the rest of the week." Looking at Buffy, she added. "It cannot be longer. This world belongs to mortals." 

Buffy thought for a few moment before speaking. "But when you've gone, I will have to come out of hiding, people will start dieing again if I don't."

Mrs Williams took Buffy's hands in her own. "Not, if there are two new Slayers."

Buffy paled slightly. "Will I die then." She whispered quietly."

Mrs Williams shook her head. "No child, you won't have to die. In the next few days, you will be presented with an extraordinary opportunity. If you take this opportunity, you will no longer be the Slayer and a new one will be called forth." Staring into Buffy's eyes she continued. "You will be offered the chance of a new life. It will be a hard life, but not because of who you are. The life would be hard for anyone. However, no matter how hard the life, you will have you will find both love and happiness." Releasing Buffy's hands, she concluded. "When the time comes, step forward into your new world." She smiled as she listened to her hidden play on words. She tilted her head and thought for a few seconds. "Listen to Willow and Oz, they will be the ones who will lead you to this opportunity.

Standing up straight, as she saw Xander pulling a gurney into the room, she said. "Let get Faith settled onto the gurney child."

After they had carefully placed Faith on the gurney, Buffy looked at Mrs Williams. "Do we need to get a new I.V. for Faith?"

Mrs Williams shook her head. "No, she is a state of Grace. She won't need anything until she wakes up." She laughed at Buffy and Xander's look of joy. "Yes children, she will wake up. In about a weeks time we will awaken." She paused and addressed them seriously. "But there will be a difference in her." She looked at the I.V in distaste. "Though I healed most of the damage when I brought her back....I could not heal all of it." Looking at both Buffy and Xander she said. "The damage is fairly minor and should not trouble her with your help." Waving them to continue, she spoke to Xander. "There is an ambulance at the back with the keys in the ignition. May God bless all three of you."

After Buffy and Xander had left the room, Mrs Williams turned to the bed. "Now how do we cover your disappearance Girl?

A tall, blonde haired man, stepped beside Mrs Williams. "It's been taken cared of." The Angel of Death waved a hand at the bed and with a flash of light a body, the splitting image of Faith, appeared on the bed. "A woman lost at sea. She has allowed us to alter her body for this purpose." Turning to Nurse Waterstone, he knelt and placed a glowing hand to her forehead. "I've altered her memory. She believes that after administrating the injection, she made her way to the stairs and slipped. I suggest, that after I place her at the foot of the stairs, you discover her and call for assistance."

Glancing around the room, Mrs Williams said. "Do you think we've done enough to cover for them Andrew?"

"Yes, this should suffice." Together, Mrs Williams and the Angel of Death, left the room.


	5. Chapter 5

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Summer's Residence

Sunnydale

Giles walked to the front door. "I'll get it." He shouted to Joyce in the kitchen. In the open doorway stood Willow and Oz. "Good evening Willow, Oz." Looking at the bulging bags that both Willow and Oz were carrying, he added. "My word, you've both come well prepared."

"Oh no." Willow said as she walked into the living room and placed her bags next to the settee. "These are just for me." Looking at Giles with a bright smile, Willow added. "Oz, is going to watch a movie."

Oz reached into his jacket and pulled out a video. Holding it up for Giles inspection, he paused to allow Giles to read the title, before placing it on top of the television.

Giles raised his eyebrow at the title, 'Cleopatra' was hardley normal teenage fare. As Willow pulled a large book from one of the bags, Giles glanced at it's cover and stated. "I see we're having an Egyptian theme tonight." Giles adjusted his glasses. "Would either of you like a cup of tea?" He said as he turned to the kitchen.

Both Willow and Oz shook their head and Willow, looking around the room, asked. "Where's Buffy?"

Giles coughed slightly. "I'm afraid you've missed her. She decided to start her patrol earlier than usual." Giles shifted uncomfortably. He disliked deceiving Willow in this manner. However, there was no way he'd tell her about Buffy's guilt ridden visits to the hospital. Willow's fear of Faith was almost guarantied to provoke the young witch into some precipitous action.

Willow was just about to speak, when she was interrupted by the sound of screeching tyres coming from outside. As Joyce entered the living room from the kitchen, they looked at each other in concern. Giles hurridly began to make his way to the door, but before he could reach it, the door shook to the loud pounding and frantic voice of Buffy demanding to be let in.

As the others looked on in concern, Giles opened the door. Revealed before they're eyes was a startling sight. Buffy, who was holding one end of a gurney, was drawing back her foot to continue pounding on the door. At the other end of the gurney was Xander. Beyond Xander, parked by the curb, was an ambulance with its back doors wide open. While Giles stood there with his mouth open, Buffy, assisted by Xander, began to manoeuvre the gurney into the living room.

After closing the door, Giles turned to behold and indignant Buffy pointing a finger at Xander. "Alexander Lavelle Harris, if you ever do something like that again....I'll...I'll thump you." Buffy exclaimed. Buffy turned to the other occupants of the room. "Do you know what he did? He only blasted through two stop signs with the sirens blaring."

Xander, an unrepentant grin on his face, held his arms wide. "Oh come on Buffy, I couldn't resist it, when will I get a chance to do something like that again?"

As Buffy opened her mouth to continue her indignant tirade. Giles, having finally spotting Faith's body on the gurney, interrupted her. "Buffy, I'd like an explanation please. Why have you kidnapped Faith from the hospital?"

Xander, in the process of lowering himself onto the settee, shot to his feet. "Hey! We didn't kidnap her, we rescued her."

Waving Xander to silence, Buffy lost her indignant expression and turned to Giles. "We had to Giles. " She said with concern. "They tried to kill her."

Giles paused at the head of the gurney to look down at Faith. "Who tried to kill her?" He said, before continuing on to stand in front of an armchair.

Buffy paused a moment before answering Giles question. "The Council Giles. The Watcher's Council tried to poison her."

Giles fell back into the armchair. "Oh bloody hell." he exclaimed.

Joyce hurried over to the armchair and sat on it's arm. Taking one of Giles's hands in her own, she silently tried to comfort him.

Xander, with a smirk on his face, winked at Oz while pointing at the joined hands. Oz, who had moved to place his arm around Willow, glanced at the hands before nodding to Xander and mouthing the word "Cool."

After a moment to collect himself, Giles squeezed Joyce's hand before addressing Buffy. "I think you'd better explain in more detail Buffy. From the beginning please."

Buffy looked at their joined hands with a secret smile. Giles and Joyce had tried to hide their love affair from Buffy, but had failed dismally. The sudden silence that had resulted when she entered a room they were in. The 'Overnight' buying trips that her mother had begun. Even the scary visuals, provoked by the sounds from her house when she finished a patrol early, had failed to hide their affair. With a small shake of head at their futile attempt hide this from her. Buffy, with frequent interruptions from Xander, began to describe the events at the hospital.

A stunned silence fell as Buffy finished. Giles, removing his glasses to polish them, finally began to speak. "Though there have been many apocryphal accounts Angels intervening in certain events, there has never been a reliable witness to such appearances." Looking directly at Buffy, he said. "While I do not doubt your veracity, are you certain that Mrs Williams is who she presented herself to be?"

Buffy looked at Willow and let out an inelegant, "Huh?"

Willow laughed as she said. "Are you sure she's an Angel?"

Before Buffy could answer, a voice spoke from the kitchen doorway. "There's no need to ask that question of the child Mr Giles. You can decide for yourself." Standing in the doorway was the glowing form of Mrs Williams.

Giles's doubts left him as he observed Mrs Williams. The feeling of comfort and love that permeated the room, spoke more eloquently than mere words could ever attempt. "Forgive my doubts Mrs Williams, my stay on top the Hellmouth has tarnished my trust." He said apologetically.

As the glow began to fade, Mrs Williams walked towards Giles. "There's nothing to apologise for Rupert; you were only concerned with their safety." She said as she handed him a rolled up scroll. "There no need for formality, you may call me Tess." Nodding at the scroll, she a said. "You might like to study that, it's the prophecy the council is basing their actions on." Turning to Xander, as Giles unrolled the scroll and began to read, she wagged a finger and said. "You really should be more careful boy. Leaving the ambulance outside like that could draw some unwanted attention." As Xander jumped to his feet, she waved a hand at him. "No need to worry child, its back at the hospital now."

Giles began to read the scroll. Mumbling the odd "Good lord" interspersed with the occasional "fascinating", he finally reached the end portion of the scroll and let out snort of laughter. Turning to Tess, he said. "This is one of Lady Arden's prophecies. I thought I'd read them all, but I've never encountered this one." Glancing at the bottom half of the scroll, he added. "I certainly would have remembered reading this."

Nodding her head in agreement, Tess said. "Yes, she really gave them a piece of her mind."

"Yes.....quite." Giles said, blushing slightly. Re-reading a passage of the scroll, Giles looked between Buffy and Faith. "The message in the prophecy is, however, very disquieting."

Tess shook her head. "You're misinterpreting the prophecy Rupert. Don't read her words as euphemisms, read them literally. If she was going to use euphemisms she would have said leave this veil of tears, not, leave this Earth."

Oz looked up from Willow, into the staring eyes of the Angel. Reflecting on the last words spoken by the Angel, he started and stared back in dawning realization. Receiving a nod from Tess, he cleared his throat and said one word. "Stargate."

While the others looked at each other with baffled expressions, Willow spun round and looked at Oz. "Oz!"

"Think about it. You find out about the Stargate. The words 'leave this Earth' in a prophecy." He shrugged his shoulders. "It fits."

Willow turned to ask Tess a question, but found that the Angel had disappeared. "Where'd she go?" She exclaimed.

As everyone looked around for the vanished Angel, Oz spoke again. "We don't need her."

Looking mildly flustered at their stares, he explained. "I was looking at her. When I said the word Stargate, she smiled and disappeared."

"Willow?" Giles said interrogatively.

Willow began pulling a large number of computer printouts from her bag. Shuffling through them, she picked one and handed it to Giles. "I think you'd better read this."

Deep into the night, they all took turns reading the various printouts. At first shocked by Willow's discovery, they gradually began to accept the possibilities that the Stargate offered.

At one point during the night, Giles paused to ask Willow a question. "If this is true and not some convoluted government war game scenario, how did you gain access? The level of security for something like this must be phenomenal."

Willow blushed a bright red, and attempted come up with some way to avoid answering the question. By then very tired, Willow couldn't think of anything and finally slumped her shoulders in defeat. "I cheated." She whispered.

As they all looked at her with mild shock, Willow tried to explain. "Getting a password was easy, it was the handshake that was hard."

Giles looked totally baffled as he asked. "Handshake?"

Willow nodded her head as she explained. "When you first connect to a site the computers send a few messages to compare languages. To see if they use the same ones. Well that's what normally happens. This one did a few other things as well." Giles nodded to Willow to continue. Though he only had a vague idea of what she was saying. "The computers there had some background programmes running. The programmes constantly check to see if your computer has an identification code that's hidden in your messages. They also trace your phone line and check to see if you're connecting from the right place." She drew back her shoulders. "I could have beaten them if I had the right equipment, but they cost a fortune." She again slumped her shoulders. "So I cast a spell. As far as their computer was concerned, it was the Presidents computer connecting from the White House."

Xander burst into laughter and exclaimed, "Way to go Will, Techno Witch defeats the Computer nerds."

Giles, observing Willows nervous smile, thought back to last night's newscast. "Willow? Were you responsible for the trouble people had connecting to the right numbers yesterday?"

At Willows guilty nod, Giles sighed and thought of one particular report. A woman in Maine had called her local police station to report some noisy neighbours, only to discover at the end of the call, that she had been talking to a police station in New Mexico. Though no life or death situations had been reported, the level of frustration throughout the country had risen to a new high. "We must really have a talk about your use of magic Willow. Though no permanent harm was done this time and you did obtain such useful information, you must understand the dangers of unsupervised magic."

In answer to Buffy's questioning look, Willow translated Giles sentence "Forgiven this time. But, Bad Witch, lecture tomorrow."

By the end of the night, tentative plans had been arranged. During the day they would pack their cloths, and anything else that they could not bear to leave behind, into boxes. Then at night they would sneak out of their homes to load up a hidden truck that Giles would hire. Xander, having the least to pack, had volunteered to pick up some survival equipment. The planet they had finally chosen, after much argument, was the beta site listed in the computer printouts. Although a supply dump had been built there by the military, Xander, who ideas about quartermasters had been influenced by the movie 'Kelly's Heroes', was sure that some vital items would be missing. In the meantime Buffy would stay hidden and look after Faith.

**********

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Cockroach infested Motel

Sunnydale

As the four men and Travers pored over a map of Sunnydale, Travers mobile began to ring. Answering the phone, Travers usually severe expression, changed to one of beaming pride. "Travers here....Hello sir.....Thank you Sir, that's good to hear.....No, no trouble. The plan worked perfectly.....We're making our plans for her now sir.....Yes, we've decided that she should be dealt with at night, less chance of witnesses that way...yes sir, very droll....living witnesses....Goodbye Sir." Travers closed his mobile and turned to the other men in the room. "That was Sir Appleby." Pausing for effect, Travers finally said. "Amanda Smyth has just awoken as the new Slayer. Gentlemen part one of our plans has succeeded." Travers, with a thoughtful expression on his face, added. "However, Nurse Waterstone seems to have suffered an accident. After injecting the poison into the Slayer Faith's I.V, she appears to have fallen down some stairs." Turning to one of the men he said. "Somerfield, I want you to pay a visit to the hospital tomorrow. Check to see that is the Slayer Faith that has died." "You never know," he said with a smile, "some vampire might have got lucky. It could have been the Summers Slayer who died. With Nurse Waterstone in her present condition, we need you to confirm Slayer Faith's death." Joining them at the map, Travers said. "In the meantime, lets continue our planning for part two."


	6. Chapter 6

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Rosenberg Residence

Sunnydale

Willow walked into her parent's home and grimaced. "This isn't going to be easy." She said quietly to herself.

"What isn't going to be easy, honey?" Ira Rosenberg asked as he walked up behind his daughter.

"Dad?! You startled me." Willow gasped out as she turned around.

Ira Rosenberg looked at his daughter with concern. "Your not having any problems at college are you?"

Willow said, gnawed her bottom lip. This was going to be harder than she thought worriedly. Telling them the 'cover' story would be almost as hard as telling them the truth. "I'm not in any trouble or anything, I just need to tell you and mum something."

"What do you need to tell us, dear?" Sheila Rosenberg asked as she walked up to her husband and daughter.

Willow took a deep breath and said. "I've volunteered to go an archaeology dig." As her parents nodded, Willow looked nervously back and forth between her parents, before gasping out. "AGirlDroppedOutAtTheLastMinuteAndISaidIWouldGoInsteadAndItLeavesInThreeDaysTime."

Ira Rosenberg tilted his head and smiled as he attempted to separate Willows words. Just as he did so however, Sheila Rosenberg, who had already done so, gaped. "What?!" Turning to his wife, he took her by the arm and lead towards his study. "I could do with a drink while we discuss this." Before he finally lead his volubly complaining wife into the study, he paused to throw a wink at Willow.

As Willow made her way towards her old bedroom, she began to cry. Up until this point she had been busy. Making plans, thinking what she would take and finally, what story she could tell parents. The idea of the dig had been hers, but had been improved upon by Giles. A good friend of Giles's, who had no knowledge of the Watchers but accepted that Giles's life was in danger, had agreed to take Giles car to the edge of Death Valley. Once there he would set up a camp for seven people and abandon it. The site picked would be easily found and should fool all, accept the watchers, into believing them lost in the desert. But now it finally hit her, when she left in three days time, she would never return. She would never see parents again. Willow began to cry harder as she stepped into her bedroom, closing the door behind her.

**********

__

Xander's Basement

Sunnydale

Xander looked at the single box sitting on the basement floor. "Damn, I know we can't take much, but that's pathetic." Looking around the room, he tried to think of anything else to take. Noticing a video, he picked it up and glanced at the title. "Ooh, mustn't forget Snoopy. Christmas wouldn't be the same without it." Pausing as he dropped it in the box." He pondered to himself. "Wonder if there's a Christmas on the new planet? Better check with Will." Looking around the room again, he stopped at the sight of a small cardboard box. Picking it up, he sat on his bed and pulled a fatigue jacket from it. Holding it in his hands, he smiled. "I really enjoyed being a hero." Quickly stuffing the jacket back into the box, he grinned to himself. "Definitely taking this along."

As he was making his way from the house, he paused when he heard the drunken snores of his parents. He wondered briefly if he should tell his parents that he was leaving, but shook his head at the idea. They probably wouldn't notice he was gone anyway.

**********

__

Green Residence

Sunnydale

As Oz calmly walked into his home, he paused to look at the packed suitcase lying on the floor. Raising his eyebrow, he looked at his mother and said. "Trip?"

Oz's mom shook her head. "Leaving."

Oz looked at her and asked. "Why?"

Waving her arms around, she scowled and said. "Bad vibes."

Oz , with a sad look said. "Bummer." Walking over to the couch, he crouched and pulled a packed rucksack from behind it. Turning to his mom, he grinned and said. "Snap."

Raising her eyebrow, she smiled at Oz and said. "Cool." Looking thoughtful for a second, she added. "Willow?"

Oz smiled and said. "Coming with."

Standing and walking over to her son, Oz's mom Gave him a quick hug before going to the kitchen.

**********

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Cockroach infested Motel

Sunnydale

Cups rattled on the table as, with a loud thump, Travers brought his fist down on it. "Where is she!" Turning to the three men seated at the table, he angrily said. "Nothing, no sight of her?"

Shaking their heads, the men admitted their failure in finding the Slayer. Somerfield said. "After visiting the hospital I've spent the last two days observing her house. She never entered of left the place."

Another of the men lifted his hands and reported. "It's the same thing at Rupert Giles place. He's busy doing some spring-cleaning. She's not there either."

At that moment the door opened and McPherson entered with a long case in his hand. Seeing Travers questioning look, he dumped his case on the bed and shook his head. "Nothing, I've checked out every cemetery, not a sniff of her."

Throwing his hands in the air, Travers began to pace. "Where the hell is she." He muttered. Coming to a stop, he spun round and said. "That's it. Tomorrow night we pay Rupert a visit, we'll get the answers from him."

********** 

__

Summers Residence

Sunnydale

Finally, after three days of frantic preparations, it was time to leave. Giles glanced round at the others. They were all dressed in the same dark clothing acquired by Xander. Each of them was wearing urban combat jackets over black jumpers. Combat trousers of the same style and black combat boots. Carried on their backs were small rucksacks, containing fresh cloths and toiletry items. Standing by the back door, Oz was first, ready to lead the way to the hidden truck. Directly behind him was Willow, followed closely by Joyce Summers. Behind Joyce was Buffy, holding one end of a stretcher, while Xander held the other end. Bringing up the rear, Giles cleared his throat and said. "Very well Oz, lead the way."

(Authors note: Just a quick chapter while I work out the details for getting them through the Stargate.)


	7. Chapter 7

Authors note: Sorry for the delay. I decided to do a rewrite of this chapter after someone emailed me a better idea for this part of the story. The next chapter is mostly done, so it should be posted a lot faster than this one. Special thanks to Josephine for your e-mail. I appreciated your input as you'll see as you read this chapter.

In the front of a Truck

I-15 North

Giles took a quick look at the occupant of the passenger seat and smiled_. _Joyce was curled up in the seat fast asleep. How did we end up in the cab together? He thought back to when they started the journey. At first he'd thought that an adult should be in the back with the others and that Buffy would be in the cab with him, but she had insisted that she had to look after Faith. He'd then thought that Willow would be, however that had been squashed by Oz, who stated that Willow needed him to comfort her. He then gritted his teeth and thought he'd have to suffer with Xander in the cab. Xander had however surprised him by stating that he would be taking shifts with Buffy looking after Faith and that Buffy would need to sleep sometime during the journey. In the end he found himself alone with Joyce in the cab. Though her company delighted him, he couldn't get feeling out of his mind that the whole scene had been prearranged somehow. As Joyce shifted slightly in her sleep, he was distracted away from such thoughts. As he basked in the feelings her mere presence brought, he dismissed such thought as unlikely and redirected his attention to the road ahead.

**********

In the back of a Truck

I-15 North

Xander looked around himself and thought about how little space was taken up by the personal items of seven people. In fact there had only been twelve boxes of cloths, three each for the women and one each for the men. Of course those six boxes in the corner over there couldn't be classed as personal, even though only Willow Giles would use the items inside them. Six boxes of books, I mean who need that many books. Now if it had been six boxes of videos, he could understand it, but books? He looked at the majority of the boxes in the truck and grinned. Though he had got all of the items on the list that he had worked out with Giles, he had also added a few extra items. Behind the boxes of books, he'd hidden a small box, the contents of which he was sure they would consider silly. He grinned as he thought of the expressions on their faces, when they stumbled across the fake dog doo. The fact that there were no dogs on the planet should escape them long enough for him to have a good laugh. As he thought of the other items in the box, he decided that he one of the first things he needed to do did when they arrived was to carefully hide it. After all, it was certain that the army hadn't included such items in their supply dump. He also thought of one other item he had included. This time with Buffy's help. Taking a trip to Faith's old apartment, they'd discovered a Nintendo system with a large selection of games. Looking at Buffy, as she gently stroked Faith's hair, he remembered the grins they shared as they carefully hid her console among the other boxes. As he continued to look at Buffy's pensive expression, he decided that some distraction was needed. "Do you think they've worked it out, Buffy?"

Buffy looked back at Xander and said. "Who worked what out?"

"Giles and your mom. Have they worked out the seating shuffle we did?" Xander said grinning.

Buffy laughed as she shrugged her shoulders. "They'll be to busy enjoying being alone at last. They've been busy the last few days. They haven't had a chance to be alone together."

Xander watched as Buffy turned back to Faith and resumed her pensive expression. Well that didn't work he thought. I'll have to think up some cool one-liners. Now let me see...

**********

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Giles Apartment

Sunnydale

Travers looked around himself with distaste. Really, you'd think Giles would live somewhere more presentable. He looked around at the room at the discarded papers and empty pizza boxes. Just then McPherson entered the room. "His draws are empty and all his books are gone."

Tilting his head to the side, Travers thought for a moment. "He's been spending a lot of time at the Slayers house. He might have moved in with them." Looking around one last time, he finally nodded his head. "Yes, that's probably where he's gone." Turning to the other men he said. "Enough, this delay in carrying out our mission is intolerable. We shall confront them at the Slayers home and complete our mission." Turning to the broken door, he led the way out.

**********

Willy's Bar

Sunnydale

For the last three day's, Willy's bar had been packed. The thought of encountering the Angels currently in Sunnydale had curtailed any nocturnal activities and had led to the many small groups gathered in the bar. Suddenly, a being cloaked in a red trimmed black cowl looked up. Sniffing the air, he announced. "They're gone"

As one or two other patrons of the bar voiced their agreement with the announcement, the volume of the conversations began to pick up. As chairs slide across the floor, as small groups got up to leave, a voice broke though the noise and caused silence to descend. "Hold up, with those damn Angels gone, the Slayers on her own again. She should be easy pickings now." Uncomfortable murmurs began to circle the bar at this. Waving them to silence, the Vampire continued. "Look, I know she could handle anyone of us single-handed, probably two or three of us, but there's over forty of us here. If we all go after her together it should be easy." Silence fell on the room. Gradually growls of agreement began to spread as they began to realize this golden opportunity. Then with a shout of glee the vampire led the gathered Vampires and Demons from the bar.

Willy watched the last demon leave the room and sighed. The last three days had been very profitable. In fact it had been so good, his supplies were running low. His supply of alcohol was fine, in fact he took delivery of a months supply this morning. It was the supply of blood and 'other' items that was the problem. As he made his way to the phone to order more supplies, he grinned. If it weren't for the supply shortage, he would have been happy for the Angels to stay longer. He paused as he reached the phone. "I wonder if those Angels would consider doing a small miracle and restocking my bar?" He whispered with a grin. Reaching for the phone, he froze as a golden light flashed behind his back. He slowly turned and surveyed the bar. Nothing seemed to have changed, accept the atmosphere of alcohol and blood that usually pervaded the bar had disappeared. A more wholesome atmosphere seemed to have replaced it. Stumbling, he went over to the boxes stacked behind the bar and sniffed. With trembling hands he tour open a box and grabbed one of the bottles inside. Opening a bottle labelled malt whiskey, he held it to his nose and sniffed. Groaning in despair, he quickly grabbed one of the bottles displayed on the wall and sniffed it as well. Dropping the bottle to the floor, he slumped over the bar and buried his head in his arms. "Milk! It's all milk. I'm ruined." He sobbed.

**********

Outside the Summers Residence

Sunnydale

Travers left the rental car followed by his men. Walking towards the front door, he whispered. "I want two of you to each side of the door. When they answer it I want..." Pausing in middle of his instructions, the hairs on the back of Travers neck stood up. The sound of shuffling feet behind caused him to stiffen and slowly turn. Just passing the car was large group of Vampires with a few Demons scattered among them. Taking a step back, he frantically looked around for a means of escape. Looking at the door to the house behind him, he noticed something that had escaped his notice before. Turning to his men he quickly said. "The doors ajar. Into the house, fast."

Stumbling into the house, they slammed the door shut just as the first Vampires reached it. Taking a quick look around, Travers spotted the open backdoor through the kitchen. "Quickly, upstairs. The Vampires won't be able to enter, but the demons can. If they get in they can invite the Vampires in. Keep the demons as far back as you can. I'll close the backdoor."

As the four men ran up the stairs, they pulled out their guns and in two cases phosferous grenades. Quickly making his way to the backdoor, Travers paused with his hand on it. Glancing over his shoulders, he saw that the men were already out of sight up the stairs. Stepping through the door, he closed it quietly behind him and made for the back fence. Pity about those men he thought. Still, he was far more important and they might delay pursuit long enough for him to escape. Just as he reached the fence, the sound of breaking wood caused him to look behind. A large green demon was in the process of ripping the backdoor to shreds. Quickly clambering over the fence, he found himself in a small alleyway. Panting with fear, he ran towards the end of the alley. Damn, he thought. That demon will invite the vampires in quicker than I thought. Coming to the end of the alley, he paused to look out. Seeing nothing he was just preparing to run for it again, when the sound of a voice froze his legs. "What do we have here? A nice bit of fresh blood." From out of the shadows, a vampire, followed by five others, emerged. "Weren't leaving the party so soon were you?" As the lead vampire spoke, the other vampires quickly surrounded Travers." Just as he spoke, there was a loud whomph, as flames engulfed the Summers house. Turning back after looking at the burning house, the vampire growled. "Looks like you're the only one left. Not for long though. Get him!"

**********

Small Clearing

5 miles from the Stargate

Giles turned off the engine while leaving the headlight on. Exiting the truck, he stepped in front of the headlight and waited for the others. As the others stretched their bodies after the 24 hour journey, Giles removed a small-scale map from his jacket. "I suggest we quickly go over the plan." As he laid out the map on the grass, he continued. "Though most people will have accepted our subterfuge. I'm sure the council team has seen through it already and will be after us as we speak." Giles pondered the map for a few moments before turning to Willow. "Do you have the potion?"

Willow stopped stretching and turned her back to Oz to allow he to open her small backpack. "I've got it Giles." She said as Oz handed a towel wrapped thermos flask to her.

Pulling a book from his thigh pocket, Giles opened it to book marked page and addressed Buffy. "When Willow and I have finished the containment circle, I'd like you to stand at the East Side of the circle and Oz on the west. Willow will take the southern position, while I will take the North." Turning to Xander he said. "I'd like you and Joyce to stand guard if you would."

Just as Giles was about to make his way to the centre of the clearing, a voice spoke from the shadows. "I'm sorry to interrupt you, but there's a small problem." As one, they all turned and dropped into their own individual defensive positions. Stepping out of the shadows, a woman walked towards them. As she approached, they saw that she had auburn hair and wore a simple, but brightly coloured, summer dress. Coming to a stop, she addressed them. "Hello, my name's Monica. I'm a friend of Tess's. "As I said, there's a slight problem with the spell you're contemplating." She said in her soft Irish accent. As they stood there, wondering if they should trust her, a feeling of innocence and joy began to be felt by them all. Although the feeling of innocence was different than the feeling of comfort they felt in Tess's presence. The feeling of joy they felt from them both was obviously the same, and from the same source.

Coughing slightly, Giles looked at her and said. "Umm, a slight problem?"

Smiling gently, Monica said. "You're going to try and transport your sleeping potion into the ventilating system of the base?" At Giles and Willows nod of agreement, she shook her own head in return. "I'm afraid your spell won't work." Turning to Xander and smiling, she asked. "Xander, do you know what happens during the ceremonies when they first break ground at a new base?"

Xander blinked at the question and thought for a moment. "Well, they get some big shot from the pentagon to dig the first shovel full." Grinning he added. "It might even be the local Congressman, if the new base was there because of his wheeling and dealing."

Monica gave him a small grin and prodded him on. "What about just before the first shovel full is dug?"

Xander thought back to his Halloween memories, and said." Ahh... just before that they...umm...they...Got it. They get a couple of army chaplain's to bless the ground." 

Smiling at Xander, Monica turned back to Giles. "That part of the ceremony is the same for every base built by the military. The land is blessed, making it holy ground."

Giles looked thunder struck as he contemplated the new information. Taking of his glasses, Giles began to clean them with a hanker chef and slowly said. "Oh dear, that's put a spoke right in our plans." As Willow looked at him, Giles answered her unasked question. "If the destination of a teleport spell is on holy ground, then the spell would most definitely fail. Leading to a possible explosion at our end." Shaking his head, he turned to Monica. "This is dreadful, the only other plans we could think of involved a great deal of risk. There's a possibility of injury, even death, with our other plans." Looking at her hopefully, he asked Monica. "Is there something you could possibly do?"

Monica smiled brightly. "Yes, that's why I'm here. I can take your potion to the place you were going to send it to." Looking at Xander she added. "With Xander's help."

Xander looked at her dumbfounded. "With my help? What can I do? I'm the weakest person here. Buffy is way stronger than I am. You should take her. Or maybe Oz, he's got the whole wolf thing going." He quietly whispered. "I try, but I'm just normal."

Quickly taking his hand as his friends looked at him with concern, Monica said. "But you still try. Even though your friends have special strength or magic, you still try. I can help you, but only if you agree." Looking into his eyes and seeing the self-doubt in them, she gently led hi to the side. Speaking softly, so that only he could hear, she talked to him. "God loves you Xander, not just those with special powers. You keep on fighting evil, even though you haven't been chosen, or have great magic. God thinks you're special, BECAUSE, you fight without special powers." Looking intently into his eyes, she said. "That's why I've been given special permission to help you."

Xander looked startled. "Help me?" He said with hope.

Nodding her head, Monica asked. "Those Halloween memories are beginning to fade faster now, aren't they?" At Xander's nod of agreement, Monica continued. "I can bring them back. You could remember all the training and have the skills you had that night."

Xander smiled and looked hopeful for a moment. Then his smile faded. Looking at Monica, he said. "But I wasn't me that night. I helped my friends with those skills and training, but I didn't know I was helping them. I didn't know who they were. I don't want to forget them."

Monica smiled. "It's ok Xander, you will still be you. You'll have all the skills and training of a Green Beret, but it will be as if you experienced the training yourself." Leading Xander back to the others, she asked. "Do you accept this help Xander?" At Xander's nod of agreement she placed her fingertips over his temples. "Close your eyes and relax." For a moment nothing seemed to happen. But after awhile, a soft glow started to come from Monica's fingertips. As the glow got brighter and brighter, Xander's eyes began to move rapidly under his eyelids. After several minutes, the glow subsided and Monica stepped away. Xander stood still with his eyes shut for awhile before his eyes flew open and he looked at the others. His face set in a stern look, Xander flowed into a combat stance and threw a few lighting hand strikes. Doing an arm block, he fell onto his back and kicked out a leg sweep at an imaginary foe. Bouncing back to feet he nodded to himself and flowed into another set of moves." 

Buffy looked at Xander as he ran through a few imaginary fights. With her Slayer hearing, she had heard the conversation between Xander and the Angel and was worried. Would it still be Xander? Or would it be a Stranger? His body moved with a new confidence and from what she saw, his fighting skills were impressive. Glancing to the side, she observed Willow's look of worry. I'm not the only one worried, she thought. Finally coming to a halt, Xander stood there for a moment, before a grin broke out over his face. Turning to Monica, Xander said. "Wow, where were you when I took my exams? I could have used a little Angel help with those." As Willow snorted and exclaimed. "Xander!", Buffy relaxed. This was Xander all right. Only he could have made such a lame joke.

Giles coughed and caught every ones attention. Turning to Monica, he said. "You said you could help us with Xander's assistance?"

"Xander and I will take the potion down into the base. Xander will carry and place it in the ventilating system, while I ensure that he is generally ignored as part of the normal personel." Monica said with a smile.

Giles nodded and frowned in thought. "Very well, while you two are doing that we will wait unload the truck at the loading dock." Giles stopped talking for a moment and looked at Xander. "Do you know where those radio things are?"

Xander grimaced and said. "The communication headsets? They're in a box under all the others. we'll have to unload the truck to get at them."

Before Giles could say anything, Monica spoke. "Don't worry, I'll tell you when he's succeeded." She then added thoughtfully. "Though you might take your gas mask with you, Xander." She turned to the others as Xander jumped in back of the truck. "It shouldn't take us long. As soon as I escort Xander back to the elevator after he has placed the potion, I will come back up top and tell you."

"How we gonna get pass security?" Xander said with a frown. "We're dressed the part, but we'll never get in through the main gate."

"You each have a valid pass in your breast pocket." Monica answered and waved them to the truck.

As the gang made for the truck, Xander asked. "Why don't you just wave your hands and transport us to the Gate room?"

"Balance Xander, we're restricted to helping you achieve your goals with as little help as possible. For every action we take, evil will take an equal action. Only mortals are free to take as much action as they like without restriction." Monica answered. Of them all only Giles appeared to understand her explanation. The others looked baffled or shrugged their shoulders as they boarded the truck. After every one had boarded the truck, Giles started the engine and drove from the clearing.

**********


	8. Chapter 8

__

Military Base

Colorado

As soon as the truck finished backing up to the loading dock, every one exited it and made their way to the rear. Once there, Giles addressed them all. "While Monica and Xander carry out their mission, I suggest we unload the truck."

After a quick hug from Buffy, Willow and Joyce, Xander turned to Monica and gestured for her to lead the way. "After you, oh glowy one." He said with a nervous grin. As Xander and Monica turned the corner, the other began to unload the boxes from the truck onto some trolleys.

Monica led Xander through several different corridors until they finally reached the elevator. Looking above the elevator doors and finding no indicators to tell where the elevator was, Monica stood still and stared into space for a few seconds. Regaining her focus, she pressed the call button and turned to Xander. "It shouldn't be long, it's only a couple of floors down." Just as she finished speaking, there was the sound of small thump and the doors opened onto a large empty elevator. Entering the elevator, Monica pressed the lowest button. The doors closed and with a small jerk began to descend.

After a few moments Xander began to nervously speak. "About the glowy thing. You're not gonna do that are you? I mean a glowing woman is gonna cause a lot of stares."

Monica laughed as she answered. "No Xander, I wont be doing the glowy thing. To every one, accept you, I'll be invisible." 

"Wow, that's cool." Xander said. After a few seconds, he added. "Why don't you make me invisible as well?"

Monica shook her head. "Remember what I said about doing things with as little help as possible? This is one of those times. Instead of making you invisible, I'll encourage people to ignore you." As Xander looked at her in confusion, she explained further. "If you do nothing to draw attention to yourself, like furtively trying to dodge anyone we come across, they will treat you like background scenery. They will know your there, they will just think you belong and ignore you. This takes a lot less power than making you invisible." As Xander nodded his understanding, she added. "You should relax and just act like any soldier going about his everyday duties." The rest of the elevator ride was carried out in silence as Xander contemplated the angel's explanation.

At the end of their elevator ride they stepped out into a long corridor and began to walk along it. Halfway down the corridor was a checkpoint with a seated guard behind a desk. On the wall behind the guard was a small sign labelled Area 52, Project Bluebook. As they approached the guard, Xander, trying to act casually, handed over his pass. Glancing at the pass absentmindedly, the guard handed it back without running it through his scanner or making a note of it's details. As the two of them walked past the checkpoint, Xander glanced at Monica and received a told you so smile. Xander responded with a grin and began to walk to the end of the corridor with a relaxed stroll.

At the end of the corridor was another elevator, this one serving the Stargate Command floors exclusively. Entering the elevator, Xander, gaining more confidence as the plan proceeded, pressed the button marked Sublevel 10. At the end of a short journey, the elevator opened into a small corridor. Looking at the sign labelled Section A, Laboratories 6 - 9, Xander thought for a second before pointing to the right and saying. "Section C is that way."

After walking down several corridors without seeing anyone, they turned into a corridor that had two men walking towards them in it. Both men were dressed in combat fatigues and were engaged in a conversation. The shorter of the two, who wore glasses and had blonde hair, was explaining something with an intent expression on his face. "Those tablet's are remarkable, Jack. They tell the story of a village full of people being abducted from the Holy Land during Saladin's reign." Waving his arms energetically, he continued. "This proves that the Goa'uld must have visited earth in spaceships. After, the stargate was buried."

The taller of the two, with dark hair and colonels insignia on his uniform, turned to his shorter companion and said. "Daniel, we know they've been here after the gate was buried, you told us this after we found those medieval types on P3R-2...something or other. You don't need to write book-sized report about it, just do a regular sized one. We've got the next two weeks off and I plan to take Teal'c fishing." Absentmindedly returning Xander's salute, he continued the conversation with his shorter companion as they turned the corner. "Come on, I plan on inviting Sam along as well and...."

As the sound of the conversation grew indistinct with distance, Xander turned to Monica and grinned. "That ignore thing's working great." After travelling down a few more corridors they eventually came to door marked Ventilating System. After closing the door behind them, Xander removed a piece of paper from his pocket and began to search the large number of pipes in the room. He finally stopped at one that led from the large plant in the centre of the room. After comparing the writing on the pipe with the paper in his hand, he put the paper back in his pocket and withdrew a screwdriver. "This is the one." He said as he began to unscrew an inspection plate on the pipe.

After removing three of the screws from the plate, he pushed it sideways so that it hung from the remaining screw. As sound of whistling air came from the open plate, Xander shrugged off his backpack and pulled the towel wrapped flask from it. Carefully placing the flask on its side in the pipe, Xander reached forward to open it. Before he could do so however, Monica interrupted him and said. "Don't forget your gas mask, Xander."

Xander grinned as he fished out his gas mask. "Good idea, it's not even past my bedtime yet."

Xander, after putting on his gas mask, once again reached into the pipe and opened the flask. Quickly twisting the plate back in to place, he held it there and looked at his watch. When fifteen minutes had passed, Xander looked at Monica and tilted his head to the side. Understanding his gesture, Monica shook her head. "Just a few more minutes, there are a few more people to go yet." After four more minutes had passed, Monica placed her hand on Xander's shoulder and said. "That it Xander, everyone is asleep now."

Letting the plate slide down, Xander quickly removed the flask and put into his backpack. After screwing the plate back onto the pipe, he then followed Monica as they made their way back to the checkpoint. Glancing at the now sleeping guard in passing, Xander stood by the Elevator doors and waited for Monica to tell the others of the success of the plan so far. Before she left however. Monica waved at his head and said to him. "You can take off your gas mask Xander, the gas has gone."

After removing the gas mask, Xander turned to say something to Monica, only to see that she had already disappeared. Shrugging his shoulders, he packed away the gas mask and lent back against the wall. Ten minutes later the doors opened to jam-packed elevator. It was so full that Willow and Buffy had climbed on top of the boxes with Faith's stretcher. After the Elevator was emptied, they pushed the trolleys down the corridor to the smaller one at the end. "We will have to make several trips I'm afraid." Giles said after comparing the number of trolleys to the size of the elevator. Turning to Oz, Giles said. "If you would go with the first load?"

As the doors closed on Oz, Joyce looked back up the corridor at the sleeping guard and said. "Rupert, what was in the flask? It wasn't something dangerous was it?"

Taking her hand, Giles replied. "No, it was just nitrogen." When Joyce looked at him in confusion. Giles explained. "The spell that Willow and I cast is linked to the nitrogen in the flask. When the nitrogen came into contact with living tissue, it triggered a sleep spell on that person." Smiling his in reassurance, he continued. "Once the flask was opened the link part of the spell only lasted for roughly thirty minutes. It's just some extra nitrogen in the atmosphere now and completely harmless. They will stay asleep for 24-hours. No matter what anyone does to revive them."

Xander, who had been listening to Giles explanation, grinned and stage whispered. "Unless a Prince wakes them up with a kiss." While Giles snorted his disapproval, the others laughed as they waited for the empty elevator to return.

After transporting the trolleys to the correct level, the group made it's way to the gate room. On entering through the large doors they finally saw the Stargate and stood in silence. It was Giles who finally broke the silence by pointing at a large window set high up the wall opposite the stargate. "That's the control room up there, Willow?" When Willow nodded in agreement, Giles removed the plans of the base, that Willow had prepared for him, and turned to the others. "Xander, the inventory shows that there should be some six-wheeled transporters two doors down the corridor. If you could check? They might be more suitable than the trolleys." As Xander made his way out, Giles turned to Willow and said. "And if you could go to the control room and..." Giles paused as he tried to remember the technical words Willow had used, back when they had been doing their planning.

Willow, after waiting in vain for Giles to finish his sentence, finally said. "Reconfiguring the operating protocols for the activation sequence?"

Giles blinked and said. "Yes...um...that." 

Just as he was about to speak further, the sound of an electric motor came from the door. Xander, walking backwards, was guiding a waist high vehicle into the room with a remote. "Hey Giles, is this what you mean? There's a ton of them in that room."

As Willow left to go to the control room followed by Monica, Giles led the others to the vehicle. "Yes, that's it. The description in the files says that it's an All Terrain Vehicle. Though it's electrically powered, it can carry a great deal of weight for its size." Looking into its shallow cargo area, Giles added. "They apparently have several versions. This one appears to be set up for carrying two stretchers." They all turned to the trolley next to Buffy and looked at Faith in her stretcher. "I, ah, suggest that we place Faith's stretcher in this one. Then if you could show Buffy where they are stored, Xander? She can bring the next one." As Buffy opened her mouth to object to being separated from Faith, Giles held up his hand. "I assume that you wish to control the vehicle with Faith in it, Buffy?" He said. At Buffy's emphatic nod, Giles continued. "While your mother stays with Faith, you will learn how to control one by bring another from storage. After you return, we will each bring one and learn ourselves." When everyone had nodded their understanding, he said. "Let us proceed then."

While the others began to transfer the cargo into more suitable vehicles, Willow had entered the control room with the new laptop Giles had purchased for her. Moving to the computers that controlled the stargate, Willow, with frequent reference to a diagram in her hand, began to rewire the system so it could be operated from her laptop. Monica looked on as the young red head began to work. This young woman was surprising in many ways. Most geniuses operated on the border of madness, yet Willow was remarkably stable. Her so-called babble mode, an indication of how fast her mind could operate, was the only problem she had mentally. And that was remarkably minor. Most geniuses were also arrogant in the extreme, yet this young Wicca was shy, almost painfully shy at times. She also possessed a sweet nature, which was what the angel hoped to engage. "Willow?"

Willow looked up from some cable she was examining. "Yes?"

"We need to talk about Faith." Monica said gently. Willow instantly stiffened. Choosing her words carefully, Monica said. "I know you're frightened of her, Willow. And I know that you fear that she will hurt you again." Looking into Willows eyes, Monica asked. "Do you want to know why she hurt you Willow?" At Willows slow nod, the angel went on. "I'll have to tell you something that only Buffy and Xander know, something about Faith's past. You know about Xander's home life?"

Willow nodded jerkily. "Yes, it was horrible. They were so nasty to him."

"Yes it was and they were. He could have let that affect him more than it has, but he didn't. He didn't because he had you as his friend. All through his childhood, while they were being nasty to him, he had you to turn to." Monica said. Tilting her head to the side she said. "He got through it because he had a friend. What would have happened if he didn't have a friend, what if he grew up with no one to turn to?" Answering her own question, she said. "He would have grown up bitter. Afraid to reach out for friendship. He wouldn't know how to make friends."

Willow looked up at Monica with dawning realization. "Faith." She whispered.

Monica nodded her head. "Yes, Faith. The same thing happened to her, but with one difference. She had no friend to help. She had to go through it alone." With an expression of sadness on her face, Monica continued. "She grew up being abused and being constantly told that she was useless. When Faith joined you all, she wanted to be friends, but she was frightened. She'd never had friends and she didn't know what to do." Monica looked at Willow before deciding she was ready for the next surprise. "Xander knew. He recognized someone who had gone through the same thing as he had." Smiling at Willow, Monica asked. "You know Xander better than anyone, Willow. If Xander met someone who had gone through the childhood that he had, but without any help, what do you think he would do?"

Willow answered the question instantly. "He'd want to help. He always tries to help. All through kinder garden and high school, whenever the bullies picked on someone, Xander would charge in. He used to get beat up all the time when he did that." As Willow listened to her own words, an expression of comprehension began to form. "So that's why." She whispered. "I thought he was always hanging around because she was good looking."

Monica laughed. "Well there was a bit of that as well." She said changing the mood slightly. "Despite all her problems, she is beautiful. You didn't expect Xander to ignore that did you?" She added with a smile. "In fact..." pausing to look at Willow carefully, she said. "He did fall in love with her." At the flash of jealousy that appeared in Willow face, Monica lent forward and held Willow's hands. "He still needs you, Willow. He needs you as his best friend. No one else can be his best friend but you. You are the only constant in his life." Gently squeezing her hands, Monica went on. "Even though you love Oz, you still think of Xander as your best friend. Though you both love others, you'll be best friends forever."

As the signs of jealousy faded from her face, Willow asked. "But I thought he was in love with Buffy?"

Monica lent back and with a serious face said. "He does. He loves Buffy and he loves Faith."

Willow's jaw dropped in shock. "But..But he can't love them both. Can he?"

"Yes Willow, he can." Monica studied Willow and thought. Ok, now for the big one. I hope you can handle the next bit of news. "He can't help loving them both. With the connection between Buffy and Faith, he can't help loving one without loving the other."

Willow simply stared at her and blinked her eyes. "Connection?"

"Yes, connection. There has never been two Slayers at the same time. Never. Because of this they are connected. They can't read each other's thoughts or anything. But in the back of their minds they can feel each other, they can feel the emotions of the other one." Monica said. "With something like that, you either kill each other," Monica paused to gauge Willows reaction, "or you embrace it and fall in love."

Monica sighed as she saw Willows shocked look. This isn't going well, she thought. Guiding Willow to a chair, she sat her down and thought. I'll have to tell her why she needs to know. "Willow, you know where love comes from don't you? It comes from God. There is no limit to the love that God feels for us. So why put limits on the love they should feel." Monica said, as she pointed to the window. As Willow shock began to recede, Monica said. "Everyone is given the chance to love someone. Your not shocked that two women are in love are you?"

Willow slowly shook her head. "No, if it's love, then it comes from God."

Monica nodded her head. "Then it's because this envolvs three people." At Willows nod, Monica went on. "Ok, I'll try to explain. Buffy was destined to be the person Xander would fall in love with." 

Willow nodded, this was no longer a problem for her. With this three-person love thing, Buffy being with Xander was sounding normal to her now. "I understand. Now that I've got Oz, I'd like Xander to have someone. And Buffy has had such bad luck. They should be together. Xander would never hurt her." Willows said, her voice getting stronger. In her mind, Buffy and Xander being together was now 'right'.

Monica raised her eyebrows at Willow's total acceptance of Buffy and Xander's love. "Ok, now when Buffy drowned, Xander had to try and save her, didn't he?"

Willow nodded her head. "Oh yes, he had to. They have to be together."

Monica was surprised. I should have mentioned destiny and God at the start. "Even though he saved her with CPR, Buffy died for a moment and Kendra was called. Now Kendra buried her emotions. She buried them so deep, that the connection between Buffy and her was barely there."

Willow nodded in understanding. "Yes, Kendra never showed us how she felt. She had that 'Yes sir, right away, Sir' thing with men as well. The council really did a job on her." 

Monica nodded her agreement as she continued. "Now when Faith was called, it was different. She didn't bury her emotions. She hid them. She hid them so well, that when Buffy felt Faith's emotions and looked at the face Faith hid behind, she didn't know which was real. She wanted to help her fellow slayer, but with this confusion, it was impossible for her.

Willow looked at Monica and said. "She never told me. Buffy never said a word about this connection."

Monica shrugged her shoulders. "She was trying to figure it out herself. How could she tell you about something she didn't understand." Monica paused for a moment and then carried on. "Faith reacted differently, she thought she was going mad." She nodded at Willows sharp intake. "Yes, that's why she kept trying to push Buffy away and with her the rest of you. Then that terrible accident happened. She killed a man by accident, but as far as Faith was concerned, a slayer who killed a human was evil, so therefore Faith was evil. And if she was evil, then she had to obey evil. Since the Mayor controlled most of the evil things in Sunnydale, he was the evil she would obey."

Willow shook her head. "That's sad. To believe your evil because of an accident."

Monica nodded in agreement. "All through the following events that happened. Faith doing what the Mayor told her. Pretending to like being evil because she thought she was evil. All the time she could feel that Buffy didn't want to accept it. And when Buffy finally accepted that Faith was who she was pretending to be, that ended it for Faith. Faith provoked Buffy into that fight and even though she pretended to fight hard, she didn't fight as hard as she could. When she fell from that building, the only thing she could think of, was that she would no longer have to be evil and that the confusion in her mind would end." Monica stopped and looked at Willow. There were tears in her eyes and the expression on her face was one of sadness. Monica decided that the mood needed to be improved. "Something happened to Buffy after that night. Even though Faith was in a coma, Buffy could still feel her presence in the back of her mind. She began to visit Faith in the hospital and she began to understand the link between them. In fact, Buffy had just realized that she loved Faith, when that incident at the hospital happened." 

As Willow slowly began to realize that she now accepted Buffy's love for Faith as natural, Monica began to speak again. "All the time this was happening, Xander had kept trying to help her. Even though he loved Buffy, Faith was the one who needed someone to love her." Monica said. Willow, without realizing it, nodded her agreement. "And he was affecting her, Willow. Even though she pretended it didn't, the love Xander offered her was affecting her. Slowly, gradually, she began to fall in love with him." Monica said.

Willow nodded her head and then giggled. "That could only happen to Xander. Only he could fall in love with both slayers."

Monica smiled. "Yes, there he was. In love with Buffy, his destined love and with Faith, the person who needed his love. It was the right thing to do, Willow. She needed love to save her." Monica said. Looking Willow in the eyes, Monica asked. "Do you think he did wrong Willow?

After a few seconds thought, Willow finally shook her head. "No, he did the right thing."

Ok, Monica thought, time to deal with the fear. "Now we come to the time Faith grabbed you, Willow." As Willow began to stiffen again, Monica hurried on. "She wouldn't have hurt you, Willow. She couldn't. You were Xander's best friend, and even though she still pretended otherwise, she couldn't hurt her loves best friend." Ginning slightly, Monica added. "Besides, she secretly wishes you were her friend as well."

Willow blushed as she said. "She does? You mean she doesn't think I'm a dweeb?"

Monica laughed and shook her head. "No Willow. She thinks your sweet and very brave."

Willow smiled. The idea that someone hated her had bothered for some time. The fact that Faith didn't hate her was a relief and that Faith actually liked her, that was icing on the cake. Monica studied Willow and nodded to herself. Ok, Xander loving the two slayers? Done. Faith no longer feared? Done. Buffy loving Faith? Done. Now for the next bit. Boy this mission was hard. This might turn out to be my hardest mission yet. How do I tell her the this part, Monica thought.

As Monica pondered her next move, Willow slowly turned and looked out the window. Below them, Willow could see them loading those funny buggy vehicles. And there was Buffy, standing next to the one with Faith in it. As Willow looked on, she saw Buffy gently stroke Faith's hair. Looking at Xander, she saw that even though he was busy loading the boxes into the vehicles, he was frequently glancing across at both slayers. Turning back to Monica, Willow stared at the angel and nodded her understanding. Good, Monica thought. She might just get this done. "Well, you can see it now Willow. Buffy loves Faith, Faith loves Xander and Xander loves them both. But it won't work."

Willow looked totally confused. Monica had just finished explaining to her why this was destined to be. Now she was saying it wasn't going to work? "Ok, now you've totally confused me. You've just spent the last five minutes convincing me this is right. Now, your saying it won't work!" Willow said in exasperation.

Monica grinned and said. "It won't work because it's not enough. As it is now, Buffy will be unset because Faith doesn't love her, and Xander will be upset because Buffy doesn't love him." She shrugged her shoulders. "They all have to love the other two as well."

Willow sat there and thought. I'll just have to think of this as a special case. I've accepted the rest. I'll just have to accept this as well. Willow sighed and said. "Faith has got to love Buffy then?"

Monica nodded and said. "That's right, but I'm not worried about that. Faith's condition when she wakes up will make it easy for her to return Buffy's love. With their connection she will, feel, Buffy's love. It's Buffy's reaction to Xander that needs work." Monica glanced out the window at Buffy, who was hovering next to Faith and said. "She is so busy concentrating on the realization that she loves Faith, she doesn't realize that she feels the same about Xander. She's also a little bit stubborn. She won't accept it if she just told it."

Willow laughed. "A little stubborn? That's got to be the understatement of the century!"

Monica laughed as well. "Yes, I must admit that's why they're going to need your help."

"My help?" Willow said in surprise.

"It's going to be hard enough for them as it is, but with your support it will be a little easier." Monica said. "That's why I've told you all this. If you don't act shocked and just accept it. Then it will seem to them that their love is not all that unusual or special." Monica smiled. "Even though love is always special."

As Willow began to nod her head in agreement, she paused and looked at the angel. "What's that about Faith's condition? You said it would make it easier to return Buffy's love. What's her condition going to be?"

Monica closed her eyes. Oh, sugar! I knew I'd made a mistake as soon as I said it, Monica thought. Sighing gently, she opened her eyes and said. "You must not tell the other's about this. It's important that they discover this themselves. Their reactions to her condition will help smooth out any lingering bad feeling towards her." Sighing again, she finally answered Willow's question. "When Faith wakes up, she will be suffering from amnesia. She will know her name is Faith and she will remember general background things. But she won't remember her childhood or any of the events in Sunnydale." Tilting her head to the side, she continued. " Even though she never showed them, she will remember her feelings for you all. Her respect for Both Giles and Joyce. The friendly feelings for you Oz and you. Most important, she will remember her feelings for Xander and the connection she feels with Buffy."

Willow just sat there and stared at her. "This is to much. On top of everything else, we have a case of amnesia. It's like that soap opera Passions!"

Monica nodded her head at Willows words. "I know it sounds like that. But consider your lives. Because of your battle with evil, you've had to cram all the things of life into such a short time. You've been so busy fighting vampires and demons, you've had little choice." Monica looked at Willow again. "I've told you all this so that you could help your friends. Now you need to let the knowledge settle for a bit. I suggest you carry on job in here."

Willow glanced at the cables strewn across the floor and startled. Quickly grabbing her diagram, she hurriedly went back to work.

Monica observed the red head for a moment, before leaving to rejoin the others. Well that's done, she thought. The main part of my mission is finished. I just have to see them safely off and I can then go see what Tess is up to.

(Author's note: I've had to do a lot of editing on this chapter. It was originally a lot bigger. I think I went a bit overboard trying to explain the B/X/F pairing for the story. I've cut a lot out, but I think it still works. Please let me know if my explanation for the pairing works. If not, I'll have to come back to it and rework it when the story is complete.)


	9. Chapter 9

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Gate Room

SG Command, Colorado

Giles glanced up at the window to the control room and then turned to the others. "Willow intimated that it would take her half and hour to fiddle around with those machines up there." Giles said.

Xander, who was leaning against one of the ATV's, looked away from Buffy and said. "What's she doing anyway? I thought that you just had to enter to symbols and the gate connects to your destination."

"That is substantially correct. But to do that you need to enter a password. Unfortunately the password system has been changed recently, the password is changed daily now. Willow is using her laptop to bypass this somehow." Giles said. Glancing at his watch, he added. "Willow estimated that it would take her thirty minutes to do that. We'll have to wait fifteen more minutes before Willow is finished."

Xander straitened up. "Fifteen minutes? That just long enough for me to visit their armoury." he said with a grin." Looking over his shoulder, as he made his way to the giant door, he said. "Wanna come Oz? There's bound to be some goodies there."

As Monica entered the room and began a quiet conversation with Buffy, Joyce turned to Giles and said. "Xander's going to be like a kid in a candy store. He'll bring back a load of weapons." Looking at Giles's unconcerned expression, Joyce added. "Do we really need him to bring a lot of weapons? We've already got Buffy's weapon chest. Plus the four shotguns you packed, surely that's enough?"

Giles hugged her as his face transformed into a look of understanding. "You're right. They would be sufficient if we were going to stay at the beta site." He said.

Joyce looked at Giles in confusion. "We're not going to stay there?

Giles shook his head. "No, it's just a temporary stop on our journey." He said. Waving a hand at the control room window, he continued. "Every time the stargate is used, the computers make a record of the destination. Originally we planed to stay there, but when Willow discovered that the destination is recorded, we decided to go somewhere else. The beta site stargate doesn't record destinations. So once we leave there, no one will be able to track us." Giles looked worried as he said. "I thought you knew this. I'm sure you were there when we discussed this."

Joyce shook her head. "No, I don't remember that, it must have been decided near the end of that marathon planning night." She looked at Giles with a small smile on her face and added. "It must have been while I was making fresh coffee to keep us awake. We drank a great deal of coffee that night. I'm not surprised I missed a few things when I was in the kitchen."

Giles nodded and said. "I see. We finally decided on a semi-tropical planets listed as unpopulated. When the SG team that explored it reported back it was decided that they would simply record it and move on. They are more interested in finding planets with advanced cultures or special minerals."

Joyce raised one of her eyebrows. "Advanced cultures? Special minerals?" She said.

"Yes," Giles said, "They are seeking allies who are have more advanced weapons. The special mineral they are seeking is Naquida. It's what the stargate is made from."

Giles hugged her again and was about to continue when, with a scratching noise, Willows voice came over the load speakers. "Giles? I'm ready to dial in the symbols now." Willow could be seen through the window speaking into a microphone. Looking about the room, Willow added. "Where's Oz and Xander."

Giles spoke loudly as he answered Willow. "They're investigating the armoury, I expect they'll come back soon with an armful of weapons."

Just as he spoke, the sound of an electric motor entered from beyond the door. Xander, proceeded by Oz, entered followed by an ATV stacked high with crates. Joyce covered a laugh with her hand and whispered to Giles. "An armful?"

Giles sighed as he confronted Xander. "Really Xander! Do you think you should have taken so much? I expected you to bring something. But this!" He said, waving at the ATV.

Xander bounced on his feet as he said. "The armoury is mega big, Giles. They've got tons of stuff there. We only took a tiny fraction of it." Pulling Giles to the ATV, Xander excitedly pointed at the bottom layer of crates and said. "We got a crate of MP5's here with ammo, plus a crate full of battledress." he pointed to the second layer. "some claymore's, blocks of C4 and a couple of Mortars." Xander pointed to the top layer and said. "We found these locked in a special cage....alien weapons!"

Giles first turned to Oz. "It really was huge?" He asked.

Oz spread is hands slightly and said. "Mega."

Giles then turned to Xander and asked. "These alien weapons? You didn't take them all did you?"

Xander shook his head and pointed to a long crate sat next to a small metal case. "Just a single crate of staff weapons."

Buffy, who had been looking on with amusement, looked interested as she said. "Staff weapons? Alien staff weapons?"

Xander nodded his head. "Yeh, their staff weapons, but there blasters as well." Turning back to the ATV, he pointed to the metal case and said. "I also got a case of Zic'nat...Zic'ta." Xander shrugged his shoulders and said. "A case of what a colonel here calls Zat guns. One shot knocks them out, two shots kills em and three shot disintegrates em." Xander grinned and added. "A gun that leaves no mess!"

Before Giles could say anything else, Willows voice came over the loudspeakers again. "You ready for me to dial in the symbols, now that they're back?"

As Oz waved to Willow, Giles turned and raising his voice, said. "Very well, Willow. Please dial in the symbols."

Willows head disappeared after a mumbled, "Ok." from her. Shortly the sound of metal sliding across metal began, as with a loud hum, the rings of the stargate began to revolve. As each chevron of the destination reached a certain point on the stargate, a large triangular piece of metal moved inwards to lock it into place. When the last chevron locked into place, there was a split seconds delay, which was then followed an increase in the volume and pitch of the hum coming from the stargate. With a suddenness that caused everyone to duck in surprise, a large twisting funnel erupted from the stargate. After a moments pause, the funnel was pulled back into the stargate, leaving behind a water like surface that rippled gently as they watched.

After a few minutes, Willow entered the room and joined Oz. Giles coughed, gaining everyone's attention, as he said. "I think we'd better proceed. With the complex being out of touch with the surface for over an hour, they're bound to send someone to investigate."

Monica smiled slightly as Giles finished speaking and said. "Not to worry Giles, the people on the surface have lost track of time slightly. They're all having interesting discussions about sport and such. They'll not be bothered for a few more minutes." Smiling, Monica began to hug each of them as she said. "I'll be leaving you now. I just want to wish you God bless and good luck in your new life." After hugging all of them, she slowly left the room with a final, "God be with you all."

Giles turned to the rest after the angel had left. "Now then, I suggest that we arrange the order in which we enter the stargate." Pointing to each in turn, he said. "I suggest that I lead the way, followed by Buffy, Willow, Oz, Joyce and Xander at the rear."

Buffy jumped up from her seat on the side of the ATV carrying Faith and said. "Hold it. I'm gonna lead the way." With a stern expression on her face, she said to Giles. "There might be some soldiers adding to the supply depot or something." Tilting her head to the side, she added. "Me Slayer. Stronger and faster than any soldier. I'll go first just in case." As Giles sighed and nodded his head, Buffy turned to Xander and said. "Hand me one of those Zat guns."

After Xander had given the gun to Buffy, with a quick explanation of it's operation, they arranged themselves into order. Buffy walked up the ramp proceeded by one of the ATV's loaded with cargo. Following behind her was Faith's ATV being controlled by Willow. When Buffy reached the rippling surface, she sent the ATV ahead of her and said. "See you on the other side." Stepping forward quickly, she walked into the rippling surface of the stargate and vanished. 

Willow gulped and looked nervously over her shoulder at Oz. Receiving a comforting nod from him, she sent Faith's ATV into stargate and, with hesitant steps, followed. Finally, after they had followed each after the other, only Xander was left. Pausing, after sending the last ATV through, Xander stood at the top of the ramp and looked back. "Can't leave without saying something." He murmured. "All the movies have people making important quotes in situations like this." He added to himself. He stood there for several seconds trying to think of something before shrugging his shoulders in defeat. Just as he was about to turn and enter the stargate, a thought struck him. Ginning widely, he stuck his nose in the air and proceeded to carry out his idea. Puffing slightly out of breath, Xander turned to the stargate after his gesture and, laughing loudly, stepped into the stargate.

**********

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A Small Cave

Somewhere

At the precise moment that Buffy stepped into the stargate, an ancient ritual was once again invoked. As the molecules of Buffy's body were broken down into its component parts, the spirit of the first Slayer looked up. With an ancient look of sadness on her face, she rose from the small fire that cast flickering shadow on the walls of a small cave. Giving a rugged sigh, she vanished from her ghostly plane to appear besides the sleeping form of a young girl.

**********

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A Small Dorm

St. Boniface's School for Girls

Somerset, England

The room was small and sparsely furnished. Two wardrobes were on either side of a single window and there were two beds set against the sidewalls. Bracketing the door, directly opposite the window, there were two chests of draws. In one of the beds, a dark haired girl slept soundly. The restless form of a blonde haired girl however, occupied the other bed. As violent images began to intrude on the peaceful dreams of the blonde girl, she began to thrash about in her bed. Images of blood and violence flashed in front her dreaming eyes as she experienced the lives of girls long dead. As the light of the dawn slowly crept up the beds, the blonde girls movements became more violent. Just as the light reached her face, she gave a violent jerk and tumbled from her bed. The sound of her body hitting the floor woke the other girl. Sitting up, the dark haired girl looked at the girl sitting on the floor. Noticing the tears on the face of the blonde girl, she quickly left her own bed and rushed to the other. Holding the blonde girl in her arms, the dark haired girl asked. "Suzy? What's the matter."

Suzanne Bolton turned a tear streaked face up to her friend and said. "It was terrible nightmare, Amanda. All those lives cut short. The blood, oh so much blood."

Stiffening slightly at her words, Amanda Smyth placed her own hand into Suzy's and said. "I think I know what's happened. Squeeze my hand, Suzy. Real hard now." After a few moments, Amanda said. "That's enough." After removing her hand and shaking it, she looked down at Suzy and said. "Well it's happened. You've been called."

Suzy looked up at Amanda in shock. "Is that what it means? You didn't say the dreams were this bad."

Amanda nodded her head. "Yes, you're a Slayer now. You can't really describe those dreams properly with words." She said. As Suzy nodded, Amanda glanced at the window and said. "Let's get you cleaned up. It's almost time to get up anyway." Pulling the blonde to her feet, Amanda picked up the blankets from the floor and threw them on the bed.

At that moment a knocking on the door was followed by a loud female voice. "Wakey, wakey, rise and shine." It said.

As Amanda and Suzy grabbed their towels, Amanda said. "Lets tell my watcher after breakfast, I've no intension of missing that." Suzy laughed as they hurried to beat the other girls to the bathroom.

**********

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A Small Gym

St. Boniface's School for Girls

Somerset, England

Wesley Wyndham-Pryce looked on in interest as the two slayers pummelled a pair of punching bags. Standing side bye side, as they threw punches and kicks, the difference in the two slayers was evident. At only fifteen, the dark haired Amanda Smyth was unusually tall and muscular. Even though she was still growing, Amanda already stood at five foot eleven. The power of her punches were evident by the fact that the punching bag she was using was new. Since being called a few days ago, she had demolished the previous one already. In contrast to her friend, Suzy stood only five foot five. Another difference was in their style of fighting. While Amanda preferred to stand toe to toe as she rained blows upon the punching bag, Suzy's style was to rely on her quickness. Moving rapidly from side to side, she ducked and weaved as she shot blows into her target. Although her blows were less powerful than Amanda's, they were still a great more powerful than a professional boxer could achieve. Considering their calling, most observers would be worried by the contrast in their skills. Wesley however was not. The current styles they were using were merely a warm up session for the girls. Later on in their practice, they would use a variety of different styles. As Wesley looked on, his reverie was interrupted as his mobile rang. Reaching into his inside pocket, he removed his mobile and answered it and said. "Hello." He nodded his head unconsiously as he went on. "Speaking....good afternoon Sir Appleby." Glancing at the two slayers, he said. "Yes Sir, they busy practicing as we speak." As Wesley listen further his face turned pale. "Good lord! How on Earth....Oh, I see....Yes I agree, we must move up the time table at once....Yes Sir, goodbye Sir." Shakily turning his mobile off, he placed it back in his pocket as faced the slayers. "Girls? Could I have your attention please." he said.

The two slayers stopped and turned to Wesley. Walking towards him, Amanda noticed his pale face and asked. "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Wesley's voice shook as he answered. "There's been a problem in Sunnydale. We lost a team of watchers. Four of them were found in the burnt out remains of a house. From the other remains found, it appears that they were attacked by a large group of vampires. The leader of the team, an acquaintance of mine named Quentin Travers, has vanished as well." Shacking his head, Wesley added. "I do hope he wasn't turned."

Suzy placed a comforting hand on Wesley's shoulder. "I'm sorry, I hope your friend is all right." She said. Glancing across at Amanda with a knowing look, she asked. "What were they doing near the Hellmouth anyway?"

"They were an advance party sent to find accommodations for us." Wesley said. Straitening up, he said. "I need to make some phone calls. This incident shows that the sooner we get you to Sunnydale, the sooner innocent lives will be saved." Making his way to the door, he said. "If you could continue practicing on your own? I'll get busy with the necessary calls."

As soon as the door closed behind Wesley, Amanda let out a snort. "Innocent lives! Those damn watchers were probably the ones sent to kill Buffy and Faith!"

Suzy shrugged her shoulders and said. "Wesley doesn't know that. He believes everything the council tells him." Grinning at Amanda, Suzy said. "He's going to be awhile. Let's get the weapons from their hiding place and spar for a bit."

Laughing in delight, Amanda walked over to an old vaulting horse in a corner. Crouching down, She lifted the massive horse with ease and felt underneath it. Dragging a large bag from under it, she released the horse, which fell down with a floor rattling thump. Amanda walked over to Suzy and placed the bag on a mat. Amanda opened the bag and both slayer looked in. Displayed before them were four weapons. An arm length sword in a brown scabbard, with a leather handle, sat next to a pair of thirty inch bladed Sai's. Resting on top of the scabbard, was a circular metal object covered in ancient Indian scripts.

Before the slayers could reach into the bag for their weapons, a flash of light coming from the centre of the gym interrupted them. As the light quickly faded, a man stepped towards them. Suzy beamed at the man and said. "Hello, Leo. We were just about to spar with those weapons you brought us." Lifting up one of the Sai's, Suzy said. "I don't know how to thank you, these weapons are fantastic. It's like we've always used them. Where did you get them? "

As Amanda gave Suzy a fond look of exasperation at volume of words gushing forth from the smaller slayer, she gave Leo a silent wave. Leo smiled and said. "Hello, girls. I'm glad you like the weapons, but I can't tell you where I got them." Looking down at the blonde haired slayer, he said. "I'm glad you like the weapon. The reason they seem familiar, is partly because of the slayers instinctual knowledge of all weapons, and partly because they were your weapons in a past life."

Suzy opened her eyes wide and said. "Past lives? Ooow, who were we. Was I a ancient queen, or maybe a slave during Cleopatra's reign. Come on, tell."

As Amanda merely raised an eyebrow at the mention of past lives, Leo laughed and said. "I'm sorry, but we haven't got time for that." His face became serious as he said. "It's time leave." Looking around the room, he added. "Do you need to get your things from your dorm?"

Their slayers faces became serious. "No, we've got our personal things here." Suzy said as she went over to a pile of mats. Lifting them up, she pulled two bags from under them.

As Suzy returned to them, Amanda finally spoke to Leo. "We're ready." Lifting up the bag of weapons, she added. "Your sure they're alright with this?"

Leo nodded his head as he placed a hand on each of the slayers shoulders. "Every things fine. Piper was busy putting fresh flowers in your rooms as I left. They understand about Slayers. You use your strength and skills to fight evil, while the Charmed Ones use magic. It's the same fight, only with different weapons." He said. Glancing from one slayer to the other, Leo asked. "Is there anything else?" Receiving a negative response from both slayers, Leo smiled and orbed them out.

********** 

__

Sunnydale

California

An hour after dawn, a battered van made it's way slowly along the streets. Stopping quickly as it passed an alley behind some houses, the van backed up and turned into the alley. Coming to a stop, the doors opened and two old men left it. Walking up to the corpse splayed across the ground, the slightly more spry of the two, knelt down to examine it. "Another vamp job, Bill. Reckon business is back to normal now?" he said after examining the neck.

Bill stuck a cigarette in his mouth before answering. "Yep. There's been times like this before, Ben." Lighting his cigarette, he continued. "Last time we had a break like this was ten years ago. That one lasted five days." nodding at the corpse he said. "Anything interesting?"

Ben shook his head after a quick search through the cloths on the corpse. "Not much. The wallets gone already. Just this passport." He said holding it up.

Bill took the passport and flipped through it. "He was a Brit." Looking down at the corpse, he said to Ben. "Those look like quality clothes he's wearing." Scratching the side of his nose, he thought for a moment. "I reckon we should put that one to the side." As Ben raised his eyebrow, Bill explained his idea. "We'll let the cops know about the local ones like normal. But this one, I reckon we should take it to that Ghoul family north of town."

Ben lifted the corpse over his shoulder and walked to the back of the van. Throwing the corpse in, he turned to Bill and said. "Ok, but why this one? There's that bum behind Willy's we could take. Nobody would miss him."

Bill nodded his head slowly. "Sure, we could, but I reckon we'd get more money for this one."

Ben looked at Bill. "Ok, I know he's better than the usual bums we sell them. He's gotta be in better condition than a drunk." Tilting his head to the side, he asked. "Couple of hundred extra, you think? Plus the we pick up some of fertilizer off them cheap."

Bill shook his. "No, a couple of extra grand, I reckon." As Ben looked at him in confusion, Bill explained. "At least a couple of grand. Imported always costs a more than domestic." Both men laughed as they entered their van. Bill looked through the passport before tossing it out the window. "You'll make lovely fertilizer after you go through a Ghouls inerds, Quentin Travers." He said still laughing.

**********


	10. Epilogue

__

Watcher's Council 

England

Wesley Wyndham-Pryce nervously stood in front of the Watcher council, as Sir Appleby waxed wroth. "They can't have just disappeared man! The school is in the middle of the countryside. There's nowhere they could have gone. It's ridiculous to think that they could have got far." Sir Appleby said angrily. Pointing a shaking finger at Wesley, he added. "Did you at least consult with a Seer before coming here?"

Wesley gulped as he said. "Yes, Sir Appleby. I consulted Mr Forsyth before I came."

"Well, what did he say?" Sir Appleby said quickly.

Wesley gulped again and said. "He couldn't find them. Some sort of spell is hiding them. A particularly strong one at that. Mr Forsyth became quite frightened when he encountered it. He also became angry with us, he said that there was no way he'd work for us again. He said he'd no intention of annoying the person hiding the slayers."

Sir Appleby became very quiet as he contemplated the power to hide anyone from a Seer. Visions of Second level demons of even First level ones passed before his eyes. "Did he happen to mention the name of the person hiding them?" He said quietly.

Wesley shook his head. "No, sir. No name, but he did say what it was." he answered nervously.

"Well? Go on, what did he say?" Sir Appleby said. The visions of Second level demons vanishing as he considered only First level demons now.

Wiping sweat from his brow, Wesley answered. "Angels. The slayers are being hidden by Angels."

As the whole council fell back in their chairs in shock, a bright flash of light appeared in front of Sir Appleby. After blinking their eyes clear as the light faded, everyone could see a scroll resting in front of Sir Appleby. With trembling hands, Sir Appleby slowly unrolled the scroll and began to read it. As he got further and further into the scroll, Sir Appleby's face became paler and paler. Finally, after reaching the end of the scroll, Sir Appleby slumped it his seat and said. "It's a message from the Powers That Be. Because of our recent actions regarding the former slayers, we are forbidden from having anything to do with the current ones. Further more, if any watcher enters Sunnydale during the current slayers lifetime, the Watchers Council will be retired permanently." Sighing heavily, Sir Appleby spoke. "Gentlemen, for the foreseeable future, the council is to be without a slayer."

**********

__

Meeting Room

SG Command

General Hammond entered the meeting room and sat at the end of the table. "Ok people, let's get on with it." He said. Turning to Doctor Janet Fraiser, he said. "We'll start off with your report, Doctor."

"Over the last three days, I've performed every test I could think of. The method of attack was obviously from a gas." Janet said. Nodding to Colonel Jack O'Neil, she continued. "The colonel's investigation of the ventilator plant shows that someone placed something in an inspection hatch. Unfortunately we don't know what that something was." Rubbing the bridge of her nose, Janet said. "We've done exhaustive test on everyone in the base, and there no trace's of whatever was used. Nothing." With an ever-growing tone of frustration, Janet continued her report. "The affects of this 'gas' are unusual as well. No matter when they were affected, and we know when from the surveillance cameras, everyone affected by this gas was rendered unconscious for exactly 24-hours. Not a minute longer or a minute less." Dropping her papers on the table, she pointed at the former first prime of Apophis and said. "Even Teal'c was unconscious for 24-hours, and he's got a different body chemistry from us!" Sighing in defeat, she said. "In fact all of us benefited from the enforced sleep. Those people who constantly work through the night," she paused to look pointedly at both Samantha Carter and Daniel Jackson, "found that the long sleep had removed the build up of fatigue poisons from their bodies. Everyone else woke up both refreshed and full of renewed energy." Pushing her papers together on the table, Janet finally said. "In conclusion General, we don't know what it was. There are no trace's left of it anywhere and it has no harmful side affects."

General Hammond turned to Teal'c as Doctor Fraiser returned to her seat. "Teal'c? Do you know of anything like this?" He asked.

Teal'c shook his head and replied. "No General Hammond, I do not. The closest thing that Goa'uld posses has numerous harmful affects. I am also unaware of any alien race that possess such a gas."

Sighing, General Hammond said. "Thank you Teal'c. Doctor? Are there any further test you can perform?"

As Jack muttered something about be tired of being a pincushion, Janet shook her he and said. "No General, I've done every test possible. Unless we can obtain a sample of this gas, there is nothing further I can do."

Writing a few notes on the paper in front of him, General Hammond turned to Samantha Carter and said. "Captain Carter? Your report please."

Captain Samantha Carter picked up one of the many files in front of her and said. "Whoever they are, they're extremely intelligent and resourceful." Glancing across at Jack, she said. "I don't know how they got in, General. But once they did, it took them only about an hour to figure out how to operate the stargate. Its obvious from this, that they had to have had access to our computers before they entered the base."

At this point General Hammond interrupted. "I thought that our computer systems were secure?"

"I thought they were sir. In fact I couldn't find out how they accessed our computers at first. Not until I found the note." Sam said with a blush.

General Hammond raised an eyebrow. "A note?" He said in surprise.

"Yes sir. Our intruders left a note attached to the password file in the computer." Sam said. Picking up a small printout, she said. "Whoever wrote it explained how they gained access. It seems that they used the presidents personal computer to gain access to ours."

General Hammonds looked thunderstruck. "The President's computer?"

Sam looked embarrassed as she answered the General. "Yes sir, his personal computer. In fact the note is rather scathing towards the President. It seems as though the President is unaware that his computer is connected to ours via a normal telephone line. The note accuses him of living in the dark ages and concludes that the President must think that our computers are connected by magic." Blushing a bright red, Sam quickly dropped the printout and said. "It also recommends that someone explain to the President that the password he use's is rather....rude."

As Sam dropped the printout, Jack quickly snagged it and began to read. After a muffled snort as he reached the end, Jack handed it to Teal'c. When Sam had finished her sentence about the president's password, Teal'c spoke up. "I am unfamiliar with this word. What does 'Shagalistic' mean?"

As soon as Teal'c finished speaking, Jack buried his face in his arms as his body shook with laughter. Daniel, glancing at the red face's of both Janet Fraiser and Samantha Carter, quickly turned to Teal'c and whispered. "I'll explain later, Teal'c. It's a cultural thing."

General Hammond, after a single snort, said. "Settle down people." Turning to Captain Carter, he said. "Ok, we know they've had access to our computers. Which explains how they knew the layout of the base. But how did they subvert the computers controlling the stargate?"

Sam looked uncomfortable as she said. "I'm afraid that's my fault, sir. To make maintenance easier, I placed the various programs in several smaller computers. That way, if one of them went down, we wouldn't have to replace the large computer. We would just have to replace a single small computer with a backup. It reduced the time to fit a new computer from ten hours to just over half an hour."

General Hammond nodded his head and said. "I think I see where this is going. Carry on Captain."

"Yes sir. They unplugged the computer with the password program in it and replaced it with their own program in a laptop." Looking down at the table as she shuffled her papers, Samantha continued. "That way they could use any password they liked and the program would reply that is was correct. In fact the password they used was 'military0hacker1', sir."

General Hammond sighed. Looking at Sam, he said. "I suggest that you transfer the password program back into the large computer. We will just have to suffer with the ten hour replacement time, Captain." Turning to Jack, he asked. "Is your report finished Colonel?"

Colonel Jack O'Neil stood up and cleared his throat. "Yes sir." He said, holding up a very thin folder. After opening the folder to a single sheet of paper, he picked up a remote and read the first line on the paper. "This the camera shot of them entering the main gate." He said as pointed the remote at the large screen set in the wall. They all watched the scene as a small truck approached the gate. "Notice how the number plates are covered in mud? Now watch the guard...he's checks their passes. By the way, he's cant remember the details on the passes. Touch of the mind control there. Again, no idea why he didn't check the mud covered plates....Loading Bay next....close ups show those ordinary boxes you get from super markets......while they unload the truck, this guy takes the elevator down.....Here is leaving the elevator....at the check point...Another touch of mind control here, guard doesn't run his pass through the scanner,...doesn't take any notes on the pass either......enters the base elevator....passing Daniel and me...Definite touch of mind control there, I can't remember him at all and neither can Danny.....there he goes into the ventilator room....no camera's in there, we're having some put in at the moment...here he comes out wearing a gas mask....back up to the check point...guards smiling there, must have been a nice dream....waiting by the elevator...takes off the mask, gas disperses very quickly it seems....here come the others....wow, look at that girl lift that trolley out of the elevator. They must be super strong....here they are outside the gate room." Jack paused the action at this point. Turning to General Hammond, Jack said. "I haven't seen the pictures from the gate room or control room. As you know, the images from those camera's, are recorded in Sam's computers. What with the investigation of the mess of wires and stuff, I only got them ten minutes ago. Anyhow, from what we've see so far, we seem to be dealing with super strong aliens who can control minds. Well control is a bit strong. If they could control minds, they wouldn't need to use gas. What they appear to do is encourage you to practically ignore them. It looks like they can only do normal things, or you become aware of them. I mean they used a real pass, most likely a fake, but a real piece of paper and not an imaginary one."

As everyone nodded there heads in agreement with Jack's explanation, Sam spoke up. "That's probably why they used gas, Colonel." Tilting her head back, she closed her eyes and thought back to the images. "The dark hair girl?" Sam said as she opened her eyes. "She's obviously injured. Maybe they crashed on Earth and she was injured. They might be able to detect the stargate and made their way here to return home?"

Teal'c spoke up at that point. "Indeed, they may also be in disguise."

General Hammond made a few notes. "Good points, people." He said. Speaking to Jack, he said. "Lets see the rest of the footage, Colonel."

Jack picked up the remote and pointed at the screen again. As the image of the screen resumed, this time showing the gate room, Jack began to some comments. "Ok, looks like they're interested in how we set up our stargate....hmmm, the older looking guy seems to be the leader....there goes the red head....now the dark haired boy...Oh yes, he must be the one who pinched our ATV's.....yep here he comes....See? I told you she was strong. She lifted that stretcher by herself.....Looks like you might be right about the one in the stretcher. The blonde haired one looks very concerned for her....yep, pinching more of our ATV's....Ah! The control room.....well she know what's she's doing, look at her mess with your computers, Captain....Woah!! What's going on here?" Jack abruptly stopped speaking at the red headed girl began to speak into the air.

Samantha Carter looked at girl having a conversation on the screen. "Could it be stealth?" She asked. "It's obvious she's talking to someone. Looks like she can see whoever it is as well." Sam said.

Janet spoke up at that point. "Look how she's reacting. Those are real tears. She's not in any disguise, that's the real her we're seeing."

General Hammond looked at the conversation for a moment and then turned to Jack. "Does that look like she's getting a pep talk to you, Colonel?" He asked.

Jack nodded his head and said. "Yeh, the way she looks down at the rest. Worried about her team? Maybe her family?" Tilting his head to the side, he added. "Though with the different hair colours....I'm not sure."

Janet and Samantha shared a smile and Sam nodded at Janet. "Ever hear of hair dye, Colonel?" Janet said. "The two blondes are definitely dyed. You can just see the roots of the younger one. The red head I'm not sure about, but red heads and can crop up in both dark haired and blonde haired families. They could definitely be family." She finished.

General Hammond spoke up before a flustered Jack could. "Ok people, some more good points. Now lets carry on."

Jack picked up the remote again. "Ok, she's finished her pep talk and is going back to mess up Sam's computers......back to the gate room now....stealing more of our ATV's....that boy's real light fingered isn't he?.....Looks like they finished loading up....just waiting for the red head, I reckon....back to the control room...yep still working.....Ah, she finished....standing at the window....she's using the mike....back to the gate room, damn it wrong button...there, that's it....right, gate room....Why, that little!....he got another ATV...Hey!...that's a case of MP5's....Hmmm, he's welcome to those staff weapon...awkward damn things....Oh, for Pete's sake!...I like those Zat guns....Oh Yeh....definitely someone lese in there, look at them hug the air.....woosh...here comes the stargate....small argument there, he wants to go first, but she's having none of that.....there they go....what he want?....our light fingered friends taking a last look....WHAT THE HELL!" Jack exclaimed in shock.

Jack shook his head to clear his shock and looked at the other's. "We've in big trouble! These aliens probably saw the cartoon on the way to the stargate. Look at his grin, he probably thinks we do that dance when we're happy about something." Jack slumped in his chair and looked at General Hammond. "Sir, permission to classify that last shot of film. If the Tok'ra or the Tollan ever see that we'll never live it down. It's bad enough they waltz their way through our security, but this..." Jack said desperately.

As everyone, accept Teal'c, looked at the General in hope, Teal'c asked. "What appears to be the problem? It most likely to be a ritual farewell dance." Tilting his head to the side slightly, he added with a tiny smile. "Though it is very frantic for a ritual dance."

General Hammond nodded his head solemnly and said. "Permission granted Colonel. Teal'c I like you to keep that dance confidential if you would. We need the Tok'ra and Tollan's to take us seriously, if they found out that that....dance....originated on Earth, they would lose all confidence in us."

As Teal'c nodded with a barely perceptual smirk, Jack buried his head in his arms and muttered. "The Snoopy Dance? Oh god, Thor'll give me that disappointed look if he finds out about this."

THE END

**********

(Authors note: Well it's finished. This story was about getting Buffy and the others out into the Stargate universe. I think I've done that. Now I've got them out there, I don't know what to do with them. I'd like to write a sequel, about their adventure in the Stargate universe, but I'd need you to send me lots of ideas about what they could do Out There. As usual any comments on the story would be appreciated.)


End file.
